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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29283555">Serendipity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeslaX/pseuds/TeslaX'>TeslaX</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Monsta X (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Romance, Family Issues, Fluff, Letters, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of mental health issues but it's not the main thing, Minor Original Character(s), My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Romance, kinda slow burn, showki find the damn letters challenge failed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:02:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>38,450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29283555</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeslaX/pseuds/TeslaX</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Some things have to happen, some things take their time and some others never come.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Where two strangers received letters that are not meant to them or… maybe are meant to.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chae Hyungwon/Lee Minhyuk, Son Hyunwoo | Shownu/Yoo Kihyun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Casual end(begin)ings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><strong>This is pure fiction. </strong><br/>ser·en·dip·i·ty<br/>/ˌserənˈdipədē/<br/>noun<br/>noun: serendipity; plural noun: serendipities<br/>1. the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.</p><p>Hello! I hope you like this story, I had this idea last year and finally, I found to courage to write it. I will try to upload regularly.<strong></strong><br/>And sorry for the mistakes and stuff like that! Enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s late. As always. He knows he shouldn’t be doing this in his second-month working as a secretary but he can’t grasp the idea of waking up before the sun. At least he cut his hair last week so now he doesn’t have to worry about combining it with gel, that stuff is sticky and makes him look like a whole different uptight person. Someone, he’s not. He hasn’t bought curtains yet and the first rays of sunlight trespass his window without any warning, it’s annoying, however, he keeps forgetting to buy the damn curtains. </p>
<p>At least today Hyunwoo’s luck is on his side, his boss hasn’t come yet and his annoying friend from the law department hasn’t appeared too so Hyunwoo can enjoy his time to settle himself. </p>
<p>"Good morning, bear, tough night?" Hyunwong appeared out of nowhere as always and placed a cup of coffee on Hyunwoo’s desk, right in front of the boss’s office. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo nods and sips his coffee "morning, Hyunwonnie, and not at all" the younger smiled and looked around him, then got close to Hyunwoo’s face.</p>
<p>"I have dinner today with my boyfriend and I’m pretty sure he will bring his hamster with him, aka his best friend and I hate him, can you come with me? At least the midget will be entertained by you" pleaded Hyungwon, his mouth was on a fine line when he came back to his usual posture and his eyes were expecting Hyunwoo to accept. </p>
<p>"Okay, I will come, at what time?" Hyungwon couldn’t answer because their boss arrived and indicated Hyunwoo to follow her to the principal office. Hyunwoo sighed "see you later" he took his folders, files, and a pen, ready for the long day ahead. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>「」</span>
</p>
<p>He’s been avoiding looking at his phone’s gallery, his friend kept watching his tears running down his cheeks, he hasn’t said a word yet but he can feel his friend wanted to approach him, he was just trying to find the right words to say before he can but he kept quiet and outside kept getting darker. It was time to sleep. And soon it was time to wake up. </p>
<p>"¡Ki!" the first yell felt so far away. </p>
<p>"¡Ki!" the second one, however, felt closer. </p>
<p>"¡Ki, for fucks sake, wake up now if you don’t want me to throw you out of my sofa!" and the third one made Kihyun stir awake out of the uncomfortable sofa. Kihyun looked at his friend Dan, younger than him but most of the time more mature. Even so, he didn’t believe his best friend’s name was -Daniel-, it sounded like a makeshift because he never heard his mom’s best friend call him that. But he’ll go with the flow. </p>
<p>"I’m awake, there’s no necessity to bring your shitty methods" Kihyun looked at Dan, the last one looked back and gave Kihyun a cup of steaming tea. </p>
<p>"You have 20 minutes to get ready, remember you have to save for your new apartment" Dan loved his best friend to the moon and back but he wasn’t willing to be his roommate, not when he perfectly knows that if he lets Kihyun stay more time he will hang on him. Both of them knew that only meant disaster. </p>
<p>"Fuck" Kihyun rushed to get ready himself. Daniel observed him with his cup of tea in his hands laughing at his friend’s antics. </p>
<p>Kihyun left exactly 15 minutes later. He took the bus and arrived at his job 5 minutes before the other teachers arrived. He was a teacher in an elementary school, sometimes he loves his job, some others he hates it. Right now, it was both. The children screaming and the headteacher was pure torture, nevertheless, a few snacks were on his desk dropped by no one except Minhyuk, his friend.</p>
<p>"Again you’re late Kihyun" Minhyuk chanted as every morning, a sweet smile hanging from his mouth. Minhyuk was Kihyun’s colleague and best friend (aside from Dan), they met at the school where both of them started to work 2 years ago, that doesn’t mean Minhyuk didn’t tease and annoy Kihyun. </p>
<p>"No shit, Sherlock, Dan had to wake me up" Kihyun answered by walking to shelves on the back of his classroom "at least I’m here" he took some books for the day and walked back to his desk.</p>
<p>Minhyuk sighed "how things are going?" it wasn’t a secret that Kihyun was dealing with a breakup recently and that hurt a lot. </p>
<p>Kihyun dropped the textbooks on his desk, snorted, and fix his gaze on the colorful covers under him "perfectly fine, I have to look for a new apartment because the jerk didn’t let me at least stay for a week to move properly, I have to find a new place, I’m pretty sure Daniel wants to throw me out of his, I have to change my address for everything and I want to cry every night. You know... the usual."</p>
<p>Minhyuk grimaced, he felt terrible for his friend and wanted to help him but his boyfriend was living with him. Also, his boyfriend hated Kihyun.</p>
<p>"You know I would offer you my place, however, Wonnie is living with me..." Kihyun rolled his eyes, he knew about that and he knew the younger’s hatred against him.</p>
<p>"Can you remind your boyfriend that we only dated in high school? That was ages ago and both of us ended up the thing, it wasn’t one side break up and something like that and we are just best friends" said Kihyun tiredly. He and Minhyuk met at High School, they were and still are opposite poles but that didn’t stop them to get closer. When Minhyuk would throw a pity party, there was a Kihyun holding his hand, when Kihyun would be stubborn, Minhyuk was taking his cheeks and kissing them. One year later they started to date each other but after the honeymoon phase they realized they weren’t in love, it was just comfortable. </p>
<p>"I know, I know, I was telling him that but you know how he is. By the way, we have dinner today and I think he will bring one of his coworkers. Do you wanna come?" Minhyuk smiled sweetly and his eyelashes moved softly. Kihyun knew two things about that tactic. </p>
<ol>
<li>Minhyuk was only informing him. </li>
<li>There was not a question, to begin with.</li>
</ol>
<p>"Pretty sure I don’t have an option or said on this. Save the apologies and tell me at what time" Kihyun looked at his friend with a frown, Minhyuk laughed sweetly and placed his arm around his friend’s shoulders.</p>
<p>"Great! 7 PM, please, dress casually, wear that red shirt and let the first bottoms open" Minhyuk ironed Kihyun’s collar with his hands and gave him two taps. </p>
<p>"Whatever, now leave, my kids are coming" even when Kihyun’s face was blank, his best friend knew he was glad to get out of the house a little bit. They bid their goodbyes and promised to talk at lunch-time. </p>
<p>Kihyun arrived home at 6 PM, the restaurant Minhyuk told him they were gonna dine in was only 15 minutes from his apartment, enough time to get ready. He wore that red long sleeve shirt with black dress pants with a black jacket. Dan observed him from the sofa, his arms folded and his head on them, a gentle smile and messy black hair.</p>
<p>"You look hot, if I wasn’t in a relationship I would hit on you" Dan whistled when Kihyun walked again in front of him looking for his phone. </p>
<p>"Shut it, Kyun" Kihyun found his phone on the counter and placed it in his pocket. </p>
<p>"Hey!" barked Dan back. He usually doesn't like to be called that name unless it’s his mom or his partner. Long story. </p>
<p>Kihyun sighed, got close to Dan, and brushed his hair with his hands, his eyes were sad, Dan smiled and hugged him "okay, you can call me Kyun" said the younger. Kihyun hugged him back and closed his eyes for an instant, took a deep breath, and let his friend out of his grasp. </p>
<p>"I have to go, I’ll maybe be back by 10 or earlier, don’t talk to strangers and..." Dan interrupted before he could say something else.</p>
<p>"I’m 25, not 10, just go, I will be fine, enjoy your night" Kihyun shut his mouth and nod, Dan rolled his eyes and proceeded to push his friend to the door. Kihyun put his shoes on, opened the door, and looked at Dan with a serious face and his index finger pointing at him.</p>
<p>"Just take care, okay?" the younger nodded and smiled.</p>
<p>"I will" he said then pushed the older outside and closed the door before the other could say something else "have fun!" screamed before going to his bedroom. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun arrived on time, the restaurant was casual with its brown and beige colors on the walls and the wood floor, it felt cozy and warm. He found Minhyuk with his boyfriend almost immediately, his friend waved his hand and Kihyun walked to the couple with a toothy smile. </p>
<p>"Hi, Min and Hyungwon" said Kihyun taking a seat in front of Minhyuk. </p>
<p>"Ki! You’re on time, we’re just waiting for Hyungwon’s friend" Minhyuk talked with excitement as always, hugging with a little bit of force on Hyungwon's arm. The taller man snorted and combed his black long hair with his fingers. </p>
<p>"He should be anytime, he told me he’s on the way here" a smirk appeared on Hyungwon’s face and Kihyun knew it was fake decency but he didn’t care. </p>
<p>"That’s okay, did you already order something to drink?" Kihyun asked both while looking at the menu placed in front of him. </p>
<p>"Do you see any drink here?" Minhyuk punched his boyfriend when he said that, Hyungwon glanced at him. </p>
<p>"Got it" immediately Kihyun called a waiter to order at least water until Hyungwon’s friend arrived. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>「」</span>
</p>
<p>"Fuck, fuck" Hyunwoo keeps repeating, he was on time when he left his house, he took the bus at the right time, everything was great until a car decided to break down in the middle of the street and made the traffic painfully slow. He’s late by 50 minutes, Hyungwon’s last message was 5 minutes ago and Hyunwoo knows he has to walk at least 5 minutes more to get to the restaurant. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun decided to leave the place, Hyungwon’s friend wasn’t going to come and he felt uncomfortable with the couple in front of him and his friend’s boyfriend’s glares.  </p>
<p>"I have to go, guys, I promised Daniel to help him with something" he knew that was an obvious lie, he didn’t care at all.</p>
<p>"Fine, take care on your way home, see you tomorrow" Minhyuk took Kihyun’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Kihyun nodded and waved his hand at both men. Of course, Hyungwon ignored him and started to talk to Minhyuk. Kihyun took his phone as soon as he left so he doesn’t have to look at people’s faces. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hyunwoo tries to jog yet there are lots of people. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun kept walking home watching some tweets and videos on his phone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hyunwoo is mad at himself ‘cause he’s never late when he promises it, except today. Hyunwoo starts to run. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun laughed, he received a meme from Dan and was going to reply until he stopped to feel his phone in his hand and pain on his shoulder. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hyunwoo feels a bump on his shoulder. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun looked at his phone on the ground, fortunately in one piece. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hyunwoo watches a man crouching on the ground and touching his shoulder. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun took a deep breath, picked his phone up, and stood up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hyunwoo screams "sorry!" and starts to run again, he feels bad but he can’t be later than he already is. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun watched how a tall man with a cap was running somewhere, he knew that man was the one who bumped into him and said sorry. Kihyun sighed and kept walking. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>It is almost time but they’re not ready yet. They’ll be, just wait a little more, maybe they’ll meet… </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The necessity of some(thing)one new</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>People love newness. </p>
<p>People like changes.</p>
<p>They need a new one.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kihyun woke up on time. He stretched his limbs and stood up out of the sofa. The sun was still hidden and Daniel wasn’t awake yet. Kihyun got his headphones and connected to his phone. He put it on and started to play his ‘<em> random main character playlist </em>’.</p>
<p>Daniel woke up to Kihyun’s humming -<em> Love Club </em>- and the smell of french toasts. He chuckled. Kihyun used to hate that song because Dan usually plays it when they go out together. </p>
<p>“Morning!” Kihyun chirped with a bright smile, Daniel replied with a gentle smile and took a seat in front of Kihyun who was busy cooking breakfast. Today was the day to hunt apartments together.  </p>
<p>“Morning, Ki, at what time will you arrive? I need to get ready before you come” every time Daniel wakes up and starts to talk it sounds like a mumble with his deep voice going deeper. Kihyun took his headphones off and looked at his friend. </p>
<p>“Maybe at 4, I won’t stay to chat with Min today. I’m sure he’s gonna apologize for making me suffer for 1 hour to be ditched at the end by Hyungwon’s friend” he sighed. It actually wasn’t <b>that </b>terrible, Hyungwon was kinda nice (in his own way), for the first time they didn’t fight at all. </p>
<p>Kihyun wasn’t gonna lie, he did want to meet Hyungwon’s friend, the distraction of someone new, and meeting them just as strangers is always refreshing. In the end, the said friend couldn’t come, god knows why so Kihyun had enough of the two lovebirds and decided to go home.</p>
<p>“I mean it wasn’t his fault, it was the guy’s, he could tell y’all about it but he didn’t” as soon as Kihyun arrived Dan was waiting for him at the dining table. The older man talked about the dinner and the jerk he bumped into when he was coming home. </p>
<p>“He kinda did, at least that’s what he told Hyungwon, that there was an accident or something like that” Kihyun served two glasses of orange juice and placed the french toast in the middle of the table.</p>
<p>They started to eat in silence, it was already 7 AM. </p>
<p>Thirty minutes later Kihyun was ready to take the bus to the school. Daniel had already prepared his workspace at the counter close to the kitchen when he saw Kihyun at the door. </p>
<p>“Have a good day, Ki!” </p>
<p>“You too”</p>
<p>Kihyun closed the door and left. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>「」</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let’s say I’ll buy your friend dinner” Hyungwon looks at Hyunwoo, the desperate expression with his mouth pressed on a fine line, eyes on expectation.</p>
<p>“First of all, he’s not my friend. Second, you don’t have to do anything, it wasn’t your fault. And third, I would take the offer if I knew Min wouldn’t kill because I set his best friend with someone who arrives late” Hyungwon takes his files and starts to walk to HR. A new employee was accepted, and Hyungwon had to check if he could take the kid with him at least for a few weeks. </p>
<p>“Wonnie” Hyunwoo starts to walk beside Hyungwon. He felt sorry for the poor boy who had to wait with his friend thus he decided he had to amend it with food.  </p>
<p>“Don’t” </p>
<p>“Okay, don’t call you that here, got it. The thing is, Hyungwon” both smile at the head of HR.</p>
<p>“I’m here to check the CV of the new one, Miyoung” the head of HR nods and walks to her desk.</p>
<p>“The thing is, I feel bad, I’m aware of the way you act when you hate someone” Hyunwoo whispers. Miyoung looks at him with a smile, Hyunwoo smiles back, then she proceeds to keep looking for the CV.  </p>
<p>Everyone knows that Miyoung has a crush on Hyunwoo. A one-sided love. Still, everyone acts like they don’t know. Even Hyunwoo.</p>
<p>“Stop assuming I’m an asshole” the taller shouts in a whisper to his friend, none of them wants Miyoung to start a conversation. The head of HR smiles at them again and both answer the same way. </p>
<p>“That’s a lie and you know it, you hate that guy so much that your hatred doesn’t even have a solid base and…”</p>
<p>“Sorry for interrupting, gentlemen. Here is the CV of the newbie, Hyungwon. He’s name is Im Changkyun although he specifies he goes by the name of Daniel” said Minyoung eyeing both men in front of her, she gives the folder to Hyungwon and walks back to her private office. </p>
<p>“Do you think she still hangs on you?” they don't need too much time to answer when Minyoung decides to look back at them.</p>
<p>“I think she does”</p>
<p>Hyungwon and Hyunwoo walk back to their desks, the boss wasn’t there because she had a reunion at her daughter’s school. Hyunwoo begins to check on emails, organize files and folders, answers calls for his boss and does all the things a secretary should do for an entertainment company’s boss. </p>
<p>On his side, Hyungwon studies the CV. Applying for the global logistics area. A young man’s photo with black hair is on the left upper corner of the document, the design is minimalist and it says the kid is 25 years old. That he doesn’t have much experience in logistics, just a few events where he was a volunteer. He speaks 3 languages and has proficiency in social media and digital tools. There is not a big thing in his CV but it’s young and right now it is an advantage. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo hums a song he listened to on the radio on his way home, Hyungwon already told him about the new coworker they will have next week, he saw the boy’s photo and felt intimidated by him. Daniel. He repeats himself. He was curious why this guy wanted to be called that and not his birth name but Hyunwoo doesn’t like to meddle in people’s lives so he let it go. </p>
<p>He arrives. Tiredly he goes upstairs to his apartment (the elevator was out of service). When he opens the door he just leaves his things on the small table close to the entrance and his jacket on the coat hanger. He closes the door and goes directly to his bed, he’s too tired to take a shower or eat something, he’ll do it later. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>「」</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kihyun looked around the tiny space, there was no doubt that the apartment was smaller than the last one he lived at, yet bigger than Dan’s. </p>
<p>“Do you like it, Mister Yoo?” the landlord asked with his hands folded on the front, he’s an old man in his sixties and grey hair. Kihyun was certain that the landlord wouldn’t be a nuisance. </p>
<p>The thing is that he wasn’t convinced by the apartment. The green walls and choral floor, the small windows, and the balcony looked terrible and he couldn't change it. </p>
<p>“It’s interesting”</p>
<p>Daniel knew that Kihyun was going to decline the apartment because when his friend finds something “interesting” he never said it, he just can see in his eyes how they spark but he would never say it out loud.</p>
<p>“It has a perfect space for your camera set, Ki” Daniel tried to convince his friend, it was the third-place they visited and he was tired. </p>
<p>“Kinda” Kihyun whispered. He kept studying the place. There were traces of mold, the windows couldn’t open properly, it was close to the street and it was noisy. </p>
<p>“Thank you, mister Yoon but I’m not sure about the place” Kihyun liked to talk with the truth, he didn’t like to beat around the bush neither let people wait for his decisions. He likes honesty. </p>
<p>“Oh, it's okay. Let me accompany you to the exit” both young men nodded. Daniel buffed and followed his friend out of the apartment. </p>
<p>“Thank you so much—” started to say Kihyun but was interrupted by Mister Yoon’s voice. </p>
<p>“Son, I told you I’ll do it later!”</p>
<p>Kihyun and Daniel looked at the direction where Mister Yoon’s gaze was at. They just found a tall tanned man walking back to the building, for Kihyun that back looked familiar but before he could think more about Mister Yoon’s voice interrupted his thoughts. </p>
<p>“Sorry. Don’t worry Mister Yoo, if you change your mind you can call me and we can arrange another meeting” the old man smiled and started to walk to the building. </p>
<p>Kihyun let a breath out, Dan glazed at him and put his hand on his shoulder. </p>
<p>“You will find a place, not today for sure but we have all the week” Kihyun smiled at his friend and said. </p>
<p>“Let’s go for a coffee, I saw a place near here”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>「」</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mister Yoon, I can do it by myself, you don’t have to worry” Hyunwoo was waiting for the landlord to nag at him like he always does when he finds his tenant taking the trash out. Mister Yoon usually takes the trash out or hires someone to do it. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo was used to his old building politics about those things since he moved to Mister Yoon’s building a month ago he didn’t have to do that anymore. Still, it didn’t feel right. </p>
<p>“Son, I know you’re a grown up but I’m your landlord and these things are part of my obligations” <em> no, they aren’t </em>Hyunwoo thinks, he keeps quiet as always and watches the old man massages his temple and walks away murmuring things to himself.</p>
<p>Hyunwoo closes the door. He heard the landlord talking to a possible tenant, he didn’t see them even though he went out for a minute, he limited himself to ignore Mister Yoon’s gentle complaints. </p>
<p>He walks to the kitchen and takes some chicken and vegetables from the day before. He heats his food up, places the dish on the table, takes a seat, and starts to eat. His place is tranquil. He can appreciate the outside sounds like his neighbor vacuuming in front of his place, the one beside him is singing a song he didn’t know and the kids above are jumping. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo sometimes wishes to have someone in his life, sometimes he wants to have someone to call or someone to spend time apart from his two busy friends. However, he hasn’t met someone new.</p>
<p>There is a knock on the door. Hyunwoo already finished his lunch and now he’s watching a movie on Netflix. He walks to the door at the third knock and with the fourth, he opens it. </p>
<p>“Woo!” Jooheon screams and pulls himself against Hyunwoo’s chest. With a whine and open arms, Hyunwoo receives his younger friend.</p>
<p>“Why didn't you tell me you were coming, honey?”  </p>
<p>“I wanted to surprise you!” Jooheon is attached to his friend’s body, the door’s still open and one of the neighbors passes and looks at them weirded out. Hyunwoo nods at him. The neighbor, a man in his seventies, nods back and opens fastly his door and closes with the same motion. </p>
<p>“You certainly did”</p>
<p>“Great” finally his friend detaches himself from the embrace, closes the door, and takes his shoes off. </p>
<p>“Your place is so neat as always” Jooheon walks further while glancing around.<em> He changed a lot in just 3 weeks.  </em></p>
<p>Hyunwoo is still with black hair while his friend dyed his brown, it’s long enough to make a man bun. He’s a little bit tanner, his cheeks are more prominent and surely he’s been working out. Yet, those cute dimples are there and that childish smile is still bright. Hyunwoo is thankful for that, his friend is happy and healthy. </p>
<p>“Are you already adjusted to the place?” Jooheon asks, he takes a beer from the fridge and walks to the living room to sit on the sofa. </p>
<p>“Kinda, I’m getting there, don’t worry” Jooheon nods, Hyunwoo knows his friend always gets worried, it’s in his nature. </p>
<p>Jooheon was the one who told Hyunwoo about the apartment in his building that was available when the older one was moving from Gwangju to Seoul thanks to his new job. Hyunwoo didn’t doubt it. The place is close to his job, his best friend lives there and important places like the market were close. Just perfect. </p>
<p>“Hm, yeah, I know you’ll do. Anyways, I didn’t even shower, I just threw my luggage at my apartment and run down to yours, that much I missed you” </p>
<p>“That explains the smell” Hyunwoo jokes. </p>
<p>Jooheon complains and takes a sip of his beer. Hyunwoo smiles at him. He missed him. </p>
<p>The thing about Hyunwoo’s friends is that he only has Jooheon and Hyungwon, the last one is not that close to him but the first was his best friend since elementary school because their families were neighbors. Both of them are (almost) always busy. </p>
<p>Hyungwon with his boyfriend, his job as the head of global logistics area in the company, being DJ on weekends and if people pay him big amounts he will do it on weekdays and besides that is the fact that they met a month ago when Hyunwoo arrived. They were on the first stage of their friendship. </p>
<p>On the other side, Jooheon was producing, composing, and sometimes rapping plus singing everywhere he gets a call. He was greatly recognized in the Korean music industry as a composer and producer, there were lots of popular songs on the radio, tv, and music tops that he wrote. He actually was coming back from London ‘cause a well-known artist contacted him (he didn’t tell Hyunwoo about the artist he was working with). Busy indeed.</p>
<p>In conclusion, Hyunwoo needs a new friend, a pet, or to deal with the fact that he has to make his own life more entertaining. </p>
<p>“Okay, I already saw you, you are in one piece, haven’t changed a bit, and still tall as fuck”</p>
<p>Hyunwoo winces “vocabulary” reminds Jooheon but even if he’s older, the brown hair boy would feel comfortable enough around his friend to talk like that. </p>
<p>“Yeap, the one and only Hyunwoo. I have to go, I need a shower and well-deserved rest. See you later, Woo” </p>
<p>And back to the silence. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo sighs. He decides to pick his mail on the first floor boxes so he puts his shoes on, grabs his keys, and jogs down the stairs. </p>
<p>A bunch of papers greets him, he picks everything up and closes the box with his key. Hyunwoo goes back to his apartment and leaves the mail on the coffee table in front of the sofa. It’s already 6 PM, he needs a shower and to prepare the schedule for his boss tomorrow. </p>
<p>Part of the mail falls from the coffee table after a moment, Hyunwoo is taking a shower while humming a Lorde’s song. An envelope stands out of the rest, there is an “N” on the front where the red wax seals it. The letters on the back delicate dancing on cursive, and a made-up stamp of a sakura tree is on the corner. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> It looks like a new story starts with an old one. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello there! I hope you enjoy this chapter. We're getting that moment you and I are waiting for, I'm excited. I was going to say something else but I forgot. </p>
<p>Oh! Your comments are very welcomed and kudos too!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Places where we met</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Again Kihyun and Hyunwoo are close to meet each other but they can't yet.<br/>And it's a stressful weekend for both, for different reasons.<br/>Hyunwoo is close to finally starts the official journey of this story. And Kihyun finally finds a place!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some warnings: there is going to be a little angst between changki at the beginning of the chapter, be aware of it. </p><p>Hyunwoo is going to cry at any moment, my poor baby. But he's gonna be okay and close to finally start this journey!<br/>I don't know if you realized but I'm going to share a secret with you: Hyunwoo is written in a time and Kihyun in another even when both are on the same moment, this has a meaning!</p><p>Don't get mad at Joo!!</p><p>This chapter is larger than the last 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Dan, please come with me”</p><p>“No, Ki, I told you I have a date”</p><p>“Dan, please, I need you”</p><p>“No, you don’t, also who was the asshole who told me I was old enough to start to do my own things?”</p><p>“That was different”</p><p>“Kihyun, I WAS 7 YEARS OLD AND I WANTED LOLLIPOP AND MOM TOLD ME TO ASK YOU TO ACCOMPANIED ME”</p><p>“And your point is? This is not a lollipop, this is my future, my life, my—”</p><p>“That’s exactly the reason why I won’t go with you”</p><p>Kihyun sighed, he has been trying to convince Daniel to go with him again to find his apartment. But his friend refused to accompany him. </p><p>“You’re the worst”</p><p>“Deal with it”</p><p>The older rolled his eyes and looked at the clock in his phone. 7 AM and already fighting with his friend. Kihyun knew he wouldn't make Daniel go with him, the younger was in<em> that </em>mood again and Kihyun was pretty sure that was the reason he was going out with his girlfriend for the weekend. </p><p>Every February happens, every Valentines eve. Daniel would shut himself down and only would talk with his girlfriend or his mom. He would talk with nods or shaking his head, only a few words unless you are Yoo Kihyun, but even he couldn’t make the younger talk more than necessary on those days. </p><p>Daniel’s mom or well, Changkyun’s mom told Kihyun a little bit about it but he was 13 when Mrs. Im talked about Changkyun’s father. Something about an accident, about loss and tears, something about blood and Changkyun deciding to start to go as Daniel instead of Changkyun. </p><p>Kihyun would never ask Daniel about and would never try to push his old name on a daily basis. The last time he did he was 14 and Dan was 11, Kihyun was getting used to his friend's new name and it just slipped. </p><p>
  <em>“I don’t wanna be your friend again, don’t talk to me, I hate you”</em>
</p><p>Those were the words Daniel said but that wasn’t the worst part. Those beautiful cheeks on pure red, that rage and distress his tiny body was emitting and the most heartbreaking part, those brown big eyes filled with sadness and hurt. </p><p>
  <em>“Don’t you ever call me that, you don’t deserve to call me that, I hate you, Kihyun, I hate you”</em>
</p><p>And everything happened because Kihyun forgot about it for a moment. They were playing, running behind each other and screaming “got you”. Kihyun was excited and happy because his friend was back to play with him after months of not seeing him. </p><p>It was the last time he called him “Changkyun” in front of the younger.</p><p>And with the name, part of him died too.</p><p>“Fine, go with your girlfriend, let me d—, let me deal with it by myself,” said Kihyun with an overdramatic tone that made Daniel roll his eyes and shake his head. </p><p>Another thing about Daniel. He can’t hear the word “die” or “dead”. Not on jokes, not on news, not when his friends talk lightly about it. Daniel would walk out or put his headphones on when he knew that word would appear somewhere. </p><p>Again, Kihyun learned from bad experiences. That one especially ended up in a fight and two months of distance between the two friends. Their moms had to intervene. </p><p>“Ki, stop being dramatic, ask Minhyuk”</p><p>“He will invite his boyfriend and I prefer to have a calm afternoon with moments of pure bliss”</p><p>“Overdramatic”</p><p>“Stop, Dan, I will ask Min” <em>he won’t. </em></p><p>“Great, now, stop bothering me I have to pack my things”</p><p>Daniel went back to his suitcase, there were some shirts and jeans that were waiting for him to pack them. Kihyun stomped his foot and turned over to take his things. </p><p>“Ki” Daniel whispered accompanied by a soft and gentle tremble in his voice. </p><p>Kihyun looked at him again, his friend was looking down, his back was facing the older but Kihyun could see the shaking hands of his friend. </p><p>“Someday I will tell you, okay? I’m sorry I can’t do it right now, I’m sorry it’s been years and I haven’t told you about it even when my girlfriend knows. I’m sorry you have to deal with me like this.  I’m sorry I can’t go with you and I’m sorry I run away every year on the same day” even without looking at his face, Kihyun knew Daniel was crying and that it was hard for him to say that. </p><p>Kihyun walked to his friend, put a hand on his shoulder, and gave it a squeeze. </p><p>The silent whimpers and shaking body down his hand felt heavy, Kihyun got closer until his body embraced his friend’s. Daniel hid his face in the crook of Kihyun’s neck and hugged him tightly. </p><p>The room was quiet, only filled with cries and raced breaths, both men inhaling deeper and deeper every minute it passed. </p><p>The outside started growing louder with the morning and soon the sun appeared in the window of the younger’s room. Less tears, more breathing. Less hurt, more understanding. And slowly, Daniel loosed his arms and Kihyun detached himself from this friend.</p><p>Already sitting on the bed he looked at the younger, combed his hair with hands, and dried his tears with his fingers. Those dark brown eyes were looking at him with some kind of ease, Kihyun looked back with tenderness. </p><p>“It’s okay, take your time, you don’t have to tell never if that’s your decision, you don’t have to talk about it, just be” </p><p>Daniel let a shaky laugh out. Kihyun did the same. </p><p>“Thank you, Ki”</p><p> </p><p>「」</p><p>“Good morning!” jumps Hyungwon when Hyunwoo opens the door. </p><p>“For f—”</p><p>“Hey, hey, Mr. Secretary was going to say a bad word?” Hyungwon decides to start his day annoying Hyunwoo so when he saw the older man went to the photocopy room, he decided to hide there and wait for Hyunwoo to surprise him.</p><p>“Won! How old are you? Twelve?” says Hyunwoo, already annoyed. Not that he wasn’t annoyed since he arrived.  </p><p>Hyungwon chuckled and observed the frown in Hyunwoo’s face, the pouty lips and the way he was almost hitting every bottom in the photocopy with a killer desire. </p><p>Actually, today Hyunwoo arrived early. Ten to 7 AM he was taking the elevator and greeting some of the staff that was there. A big smile was on his face and it should. </p><p>He wasn’t late. He had a good breakfast and even got the chance to buy a coffee and a pastry in the coffee shop in front of the building. </p><p>His notes were in his suitcase well-organized, the perfume he decided to use that day wasn’t that strong, it smelled good. His hair was combed to the left side and looked great. His face wasn’t swollen. Both of his shoes were the same, not that he once used a different pair with each foot, not, of course, it didn’t happen. </p><p>So, why Son Hyunwoo, the Secretary of the CEO of one of the most important technology companies in South Korea at his 28 years old and with that handsome face, is annoyed so early in</p><p>the morning?</p><p>“Boss’s kids are driving you crazy and it’s only 8 AM” </p><p>It was funny for whoever, that didn't have to deal with the children of the Boss, because they were witty kids and it was entertaining to watch them do their jokes and play around. But that wasn’t for the babysitter of the day. </p><p>Once in a while, the CEO aka the boss would bring her kids not because she couldn’t find a babysitter but her kids loved to be in her office and talk with everyone and she loves them so much. </p><p>Thus, ignoring her husband’s requests to leave the kids with him at his restaurant, she would take them to her office and choose one of his employees randomly. </p><p>Today the victim is Hyunwoo. </p><p>Boss has three kids. A girl with 5 years old, Yun-kyung, talkative as his father and tends to draw everywhere if she has something to. Another girl with 7 years old, Hyojung,  most of the time she would be quiet and get shy with new people, but if she already is comfortable enough she would be jumping and playing around. The last one is the nightmare of Hyunwoo, a baby with 2 years old, Donghyun, smarter than most of his age, with everyone the baby is calm and would listen but with Hyunwoo it's another story.</p><p>Hyunwoo is sure Donghyun hates him, there is no other reason for his constant tantrums. Every time that baby leans his small eyes on Hyunwoo he gets ready to receive him with a punch on his chest. </p><p>Not that it matters because it is a baby punch, a soft breeze for Hyunwoo. </p><p>“You can’t imagine. Yun-kyung started to draw on my table”</p><p>“Oh, so sweet”</p><p>“No, you don’t understand, she literally draw on my table, now it has weird figures on it and I tried to clean it but I couldn’t get far ‘cause Hyojung interrupted me hiding behind my legs because that girl from accountability wanted to play with her but Hyojung didn’t want. The cherry on the cake was Donghyun when he started to cry out of nowhere, I wasn’t even looking at him, he just screamed and let those crocodile tears out”</p><p>“An eventful morning I have to say” Hyungwon leans on the photocopy watching Hyunwoo passing his fingers in his hair. His tie was crooked and there is a pink line made of the market on his bottom shirt but Hyungwon won’t tell him, he doesn’t want to make everything worse. </p><p>By first hand he knew those children together were a headache. </p><p>“Correction. A horrible morning, I want to go home and I have like 8 hours ahead because the Boss has a reunion tomorrow and 2 on Monday, thank god the other assistant will be there tomorrow” Hyunwoo takes the photocopies he made and puts them in his folder. </p><p>“At least she didn’t make you work on Saturday”</p><p>“Don’t jinx it”</p><p>Hyungwon raises his hands upon surrender and says “I’m not, just be prepared. The other assistant used to bail a lot with the other secretary. If you’re gonna ask why she’s still here it’s because it’s the boss’s niece”</p><p>“Nope, we’re not gonna be negative. I have to go. Pray for my ass to not have to wake up a god knows what hour tomorrow”</p><p>“You’re a little religious today, Hyunwoo”</p><p>“Don’t test me”</p><p>After 8 hours of hard work between taking care of children and dealing with the phone calls, the schedule, emails, visits, reunions, and more, Hyunwoo finally finishes for the day. </p><p>As soon as the Boss tells him to go home he grabs his things and leaves without looking back. </p><p>Hyunwoo arrives home at sunset, he can hear some people from other apartments talk and move things, even when he takes the elevator he sees some of his younger neighbors with party clothes. </p><p>It’s Friday, while everyone is doing something fun Hyunwoo is stuck in his apartment munching chips, trying a new recipe Hyojung showed him in a video in the morning, and watching a romantic movie because he is a sucker for cliché love stories. </p><p>30 minutes later Hyunwoo decides to order sushi because it’s Friday and he deserves it, even he adds a dessert. He has just to wait while watching<em> Letters to Juliet </em>for the fourth time… in the last two months. </p><p>However, it was the moment when Sophie finds the letter when Hyunwoo looks at his own mail in front of him on the coffee table. The stacks of paper are piled because it was the first time since he moved that he picked up his mail.</p><p>He sighs and pauses the movie. </p><p>Hyunwoo bends towards the mails and scans the envelopes. He takes some papers that are from the bank, others are just publicity. Some say his name and others have a “Jihoon” as the recipient, he doesn’t open those with other’s names, he thinks the mailman maybe got confused or something. </p><p> After a moment he realized there were envelopes on the floor too. He picks them up and reads the recipient, one of them is for him it’s from a magazine he doesn’t remember he signed for, the next one is for “Jihoon” and the last one is peculiar.</p><p>There is an “N” on the red wax that seals the envelope, the paper is baby blue and it seems that it was sprayed with perfume, a delicate masculine scent. Coffee with vanilla maybe.  On the back at the right-down corner is his address but the recipient says “N” and there is no address from the sender.</p><p>The writing on the envelope is fine cursive, every letter is perfectly made, Hyunwoo can tell the sender took their time to write it. He can feel a paper inside, surely a letter, but there is something else when Hyunwoo presses his fingers in every part of the envelope, it feels like a trinket is in there.</p><p>Before Hyunwoo can inspect more, the buzzer sounds, it’s the delivery. He leaves the envelope on the coffee table and runs down the stairs (he’s on the second floor) to receive his food.</p><p>When he comes back, the hunger he didn’t know he had, comes like a truck. Hyunwoo puts the container on the coffee table and the envelope hides below it, he gets comfortable on the sofa, starts the movie again, and begins to enjoy his sushi with a beer he took from the fridge just a minute ago. </p><p>The movie still goes and Hyunwoo thinks about the envelope but decides to check it after the movie. </p><p>A ringing is heard in the middle of the ending scene, the sushi has disappeared and Hyunwoo was excited to watch Sophie attending Claire's wedding. But the damn ringing keeps repeating even when Hyunwoo tries to ignore it.</p><p>Against his will, Hyunwoo stands up to check his phone on the dining table.</p><p>
  <em>Boss</em>
</p><p>He really is going to cry. It is supposed to be his free-stress Friday, his weekend for himself. Hyunwoo is tempted to play dumb and leave the phone ringing until his boss decides to her better judgment, that it’s Friday and she shouldn’t be calling her employees at 9 PM on Friday, after making his said employee babysit her children. </p><p>“Good Night, Mrs. Kim” but Hyunwoo doesn’t want to lose his job so he picks up.</p><p>“Hyunwoo! You saved my life, thanks for picking up I know it’s late and it’s Friday, maybe you are enjoying your weekend and your boss decided to interrupt” Hyunwoo wants badly to agree with his boss on this instead he lets an airy laugh. </p><p>“Not like that, Mrs. Kim. How can I help you?” because of course, no boss would ever call an employee just to know how is their Friday going, right?</p><p>“I need a big favor, Hyunwoo. The other assistant, Jieun, can’t come tomorrow. It’s okay if you have plans, I will try to find someone else”</p><p>Mrs. Kim usually has three types of voices.</p><p>The first one is kind and gentle, used for her employees most of the time and her children. The second one was the ruthless and severe boss everyone waits for when they join the company, that voice was only for difficult situations. And the last one was confident and assertive, even if she is asking for something there was a certain feeling she will get it at the end.</p><p>The confident one was being used to talk to Hyunwoo this Friday night.</p><p>He knew she was not actually open to the idea of <em>“I can’t, I have things to do on Saturday morning because I’m a normal person who wants to enjoy their Saturday even if I’m not going out”. </em></p><p>“Don’t worry, Mrs. Kim, I’m free. I’ll be there”</p><p>“Thank you so much, I will compensate you, have a goodnight”</p><p> </p><p>And goodbye to his Saturday morning sleeping till noon. </p><p> </p><p>Hyunwoo doesn’t even want to finish the movie so he just turns off the TV and the lights to go to sleep. He has to rest enough for the day ahead anyways. </p><p>“Did you bring the coffee?” Mrs. Kim asks, Hyunwoo looks at her in disbelief with sweat running down his forehead and strand of hair out of its place. </p><p>He’s been running since 6:30 AM from an office to another, from the conference room on the 19th floor to the meeting room on the 15th floor and back to his desk and CEO’s office on the 20th floor, carrying office things, folders, files, copies of the investments, of the company status. Setting up both meeting rooms. </p><p>Of course he forgot the damn coffee. </p><p>“The coffee from the break room and cafeteria is out of service, Hyungwon told me it tasted funny so someone is changing it, get some from the coffee shop” says Mrs. Kim, typing on her tablet. She looks so almighty and ready to conquer the world. </p><p>“I’ll be back in a moment, Mrs. Kim” the boss shushes him with her hand and proceeds to watch the thecnic group setting up the presentation. </p><p>Hyunwoo runs to the elevator, he has exactly 40 minutes to get 20 coffees. The meeting is at 9 AM. </p><p>
  <em>Here is the list of everyone’s orders, Hyunwoo. Today the investors are really important, and it’s necessary to give them a good reception.</em>
</p><p>A message from the boss. <em>Great</em>, thought Hyunwoo. He starts to read the list and they aren’t simple and normal Americano Coffees. No. There are cappuccinos, teas, hot chocolates and lattes plus pastries and bread. He wants to cry. </p><p>Finally, in the lobby, he runs out to the coffee shop in front of the building. </p><p> </p><p>「」</p><p>Kihyun is looking around the area, his landlady, a kind woman in her forties told him that a lot of important and entertaining places were there and that it was okay if he wanted to look around while she prepares his contract. </p><p>After he talked with Daniel the day before he decided he was going to move his meeting for an apartment he found to the next day. He wanted to stay with Daniel a little bit in the afternoon before he left for the weekend.</p><p>That’s why he was on Saturday morning at 7 AM checking his new apartment. It was perfect. </p><p>The walls were white, with a lot of natural light thanks to the big window that was on the calm side of the building. It has a beautiful kitchen island and tall chairs. His room was spacious and with a medium closet. It has an extra room that could be equipped for whatever necessity he could have. It wasn’t nosy. And the most important thing: the lease was decent. </p><p>Instantly Kihyun told the landlady, Mrs. Lee, that he wanted the place and when he could sign, he asked if it could be right away because he needed to move as soon as possible. Mrs. Lee told him that it was possible but he had to wait so he suggested he look around and come back at 9 AM.</p><p>That was Kihyun doing. Watching the street and tall buildings, the people walking or running beside him. Flowers and plants decorating the sidewalk. He already saw a mall, a supermarket, various clothing stores, and companies with their fancy logos on the front. </p><p> </p><p>After a few minutes and 3 blocks away from his future apartment he found himself in front of a coffee shop called <em>The Louvre, </em>the fainter cold made him tighten his sweater around his frame, winter was still there. </p><p>The craving for a hot tea appeared and Kihyun decided to enter the place. </p><p> </p><p>“I want to order 3 large cappuccinos with 2 small packets of sugar each one, 2 large hot chamomile teas, one large hot jasmine tea and 2 large hot herb teas, 4 medium hot chocolates and 8 large lattes with sugar one of them with chocolate syrup, 3 croissante, 4 chocolate muffins, and 5 strawberry tarts” at least the barista is used to that kind of orders, most of their customers were business people make big orders and it isn’t as surprising as the first time.</p><p>“For Hyunwoo” says and proceeds to give the barista the company’s credit card. </p><p>The barista, a girl in her twenties, can admire the customer in front of her when she waits for the credit card to pass. She has to admit, he is handsome. </p><p>“Okay, Hyunwoo it’ll be ready in 20 or 25 minutes, we will call your name. Have a nice day” she smiles and Hyunwoo smiles back and walks to a table. </p><p>
  <em>You have to be here in 20 minutes, Hyunwoo. </em>
</p><p>If it isn’t for the fact that he is a public place and that he’s against wasting time drying his tears, he would be crying thanks to the stress. He is already thinking of getting drunk later and going to the ramen place down the street from his apartment. He deserves it. </p><p> </p><p>“Just a warning. Your order is gonna take time because a customer before you made a large order, is it okay?”</p><p>The man blinked at the barista.</p><p>“How much time?”</p><p>“30 minutes at most but I can give you the raspberry pie and your croissant right away”</p><p>It was okay, he wasn’t in a hurry he still had time to waste, he will live there anyways. </p><p>“It’s fine, I can wait,” Kihyun smiles at the barista and pays for his tea plus pastries. </p><p>“Thank you, Sir. Can you give your name?”</p><p>“Kihyun”</p><p> </p><p>“Is too much time left for my order?”</p><p>Mrs. Kim was sending him lots of messages asking him about his whereabouts and Hyunwoo had to send her photos of the coffee shop, still, she asked him to hurry up. </p><p>
  <em>Of course, let me tell the baristas to be faster. </em>
</p><p>Now Hyunwoo is between crying, getting angry, or laughing because it is too much. </p><p>“No, Sir, just two teas left. We already packed everything up”</p><p>“Okay, thank you” Hyunwoo decides to wait at the counter where everyone receives their orders, the barista who made the beverages give him the first box with half of the things and it’s waiting for the other one. </p><p> </p><p>“I found a place!” screams Kihyun as soon as Minhyuk picks up the phone.</p><p>“Already? I’m so happy, Kihyun” there is an annoying sound in the background, pretty sure from Hyungwon. </p><p>“Me too, Min. You have to come with Dan, it’s really nice and calm, both of you will like it” says Kihyun excitedly. </p><p>Minhyuk lets a sigh out “I will go, next week if you want me to… with Won” Kihyun laughs because of the tiny silence.</p><p>“I prefer you come tomorrow to help move my things, Dan is with his girlfriend for the weekend and I need people to help me” Minhyuk makes an annoying sound. </p><p>“Knew it you were calling because you need something from you’re a beautiful friend and not ‘cause you miss me” </p><p>“Ew, never, we saw each other yesterday”</p><p>“The disrespect, Yoo Kihyun. Whatever. You are a lucky guy, I’ll be free tomorrow because Wonnie is going to visit his mom”</p><p>There are whispers in the background and Kihyun can hear a dim “tell him to keep his hands to himself” and then a “Won! Get over it, we’re gonna move his things”.</p><p>“I meet you at Dan’s and then we go to your place”</p><p>“Great, I’m gonna ask Han to borrow me his car,” Kihyun says, the barista comes to give him his pastries and his tea. </p><p>“Sir! Your pastries!” the other barista behind the counter screams and runs out of the place, Kihyun can see the guy walking to a tall man with a large coat and two big boxes of what he thinks it’s coffee. </p><p>“Oh, that’s the customer I told you about when you ordered,” says the girl in front of him while observing his co-worker talking with the man.</p><p>“Busy morning for him it seems” Kihyun only can see the man’s back and the barista guy nodding at him and then how he walks behind the man. </p><p>“Yeah, there are always customers like him here, businesspeople getting ready for meetings and stuff. Have a nice day, Kihyun!” the girl leaves and Kihyun keeps looking at the building where the tall man disappeared.</p><p>“Kihyun, Kihyun!” he hears, he looks at his phone and sees that he’s still on the call with Minhyuk. </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“Idiot, you forgot you were talking to me, right? Where are you?” complaints Minhyuk, Kihyun bites his croissant and takes a sip of his tea. </p><p>“Shut up, I’m at a coffee shop, the landlady told me to wait until 9 AM to sign the papers”</p><p>“Hope you’re not so far away because it’s 8:40 AM” </p><p>“Nah, I’m fine”<br/><br/></p><p>「」</p><p>“Please, place the bag on that table” points Hyunwoo to a space on the corner of the room, the barista leaves the bag and asks.</p><p>“Can I help you with something else, Sir?” his voice is incredibly gentle, which makes Hyunwoo a little less anxious but he just needs to do this alone, it’s almost time and the boss already told him the investors arrived. </p><p>“No, thank you so much” Hyunwoo gives him a big tip and the guy leaves thanking him. </p><p>Hyunwoo puts the beverages close to the tag name of every investor on the table. He goes over every detail, checks the list his boss sent him, adjusts the papers and everything he can see, and walks out to reach his boss and tell her it’s time to begin the meeting. </p><p>Thankfully, the meeting goes smoothly, nothing is out of place, Hyunwoo can make notes and helps his boss perfectly when it’s necessary, the investors are happy about the results of the 6 months prior and are willing to keep with the partnership. </p><p>5 hours later Hyunwoo finds himself taking the bus home. He arrives and goes to take a shower. He’s tired but the containers from yesterday’s dinner are bothering him so cleans up.</p><p>He sits on his sofa and looks at the ceiling.</p><p>It seems like something falls from the coffee table, he hears it. </p><p>It’s the peculiar letter he saw yesterday.</p><p>He picks it up, he already inspected it yesterday but he can’t stop observing it. It’s weird but it has some kind of beauty that allures Hyunwoo to keep admiring it.</p><p>He’s not sure if it’s for him but he’s been there for a month, maybe some of his family send it. Maybe. </p><p>He decides to open it. His fingers are trying to separate the wax from the paper below. He achieved it.</p><p>Hyunwoo can see a white paper folded inside. His fingers are feeling the soft envelope and eager to take the letter inside.</p><p>There are 3 knocks on his door.</p><p>He leaves the envelope on the table to open it and finds Jooheon on the other side of the door smiling at him.</p><p>“Let’s go out, Woo”</p><p>And the envelope is left behind when Hyunwoo leaves with Jooheon to the ramen place.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Closing wounds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hyunwoo reads one of the letters.<br/>Kihyun finally moves with the help of the wonderful Minhyuk.<br/>A little insight into Min's boyfriend's past.<br/>And Kihyun is finally alone to get to old memories. It's gonna hurt.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning! :  family abuse story. There is not really explicit content.<br/>Okay, I kinda didn't plan to have 2 consecutive chapters with light angst (kinda)  but it happened somehow. I promise we'll get laughs or at least better mood next chapter!<br/>Hope you like this chapter! If you have any suggestions, theories, complaints, or just want to let out your feelings in the comments, I'll be really happy to read them.<br/>If you wanna add more feeling to Kihyun's moment you can listen to The Cut that Always Bleed by Conan Gray and From the Dining Table by Harry Styles</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A man was in front of the tall building, the sunbeams barely reflecting in its windows and the city was still asleep, still waking up from the intoxicated weekend. </p><p>He promised his dear beloved that he wouldn’t be there, that he wouldn’t put a foot on that building but he was there at 6 AM, trying to stop his tears. </p><p>It has been 10 years, why is he still crying?</p><p>His chest hurts, his fingers feel numb and it’s just caused by the cold winter. </p><p>The snow falls and he can feel it on the tip of his eyelashes. His cheeks are red. His hair is now black. He’s taller and bigger than 10 years ago. </p><p>His beloved will be proud. </p><p>He enters the building, he already knows the password, he told him. </p><p>The number 118 is on the mailbox he’s interested in. He gets closer.</p><p>
  <em>It has been 10 years, get it together, if he has moved on, you have too. </em>
</p><p>But it’s difficult, it’s painful. Not impossible. </p><p>He opens the box and finds loads of papers inside. </p><p>He laughs.</p><p>At least it’s going to be difficult to find his letter. </p><p>He puts in the middle the blue envelope, the one that has been waiting for 10 years to be sent, to be received by his beloved.</p><p>Because he’s finally setting him free, setting himself free. </p><p>The mailbox closes.</p><p>And he walks away, in the middle of a cold morning.</p><p>Letting his love go.</p><p> </p><p>Jooheon and Hyunwoo went to the market after eating some ramen. Two bottles of soju later they were roaming looking for night snacks and just walking around. They enjoyed the night like old times, just worrying about which street they would explore later. </p><p>Hyunwoo arrived home past Midnight, he didn’t care about changing so he went directly to his bed and closed his eyes to finally fall asleep.</p><p>
  <em>Goodnight. </em>
</p><p>The sun starts bothering him early, Hyunwoo thinks it’s already 8 AM and of course he still doesn’t have curtains. </p><p>He groans and tries to cover his eyes with his arms but he knows every trace of sleep is gone. He rolls on his stomach and keeps his eyes closed, enjoying his Sunday in bed, trying to gain strength to get up. </p><p>After some minutes, Hyunwoo leaves his bed. He goes to the bathroom and does his morning routine. </p><p>Everything is quiet and he likes it. Walking to the kitchen to cook his breakfast, someone interrupts him. </p><p>“Woo!” he can hear Jooheon screaming out of his apartment.</p><p>“Woo!” he hears again. Hyunwoo smiles and goes to open the door. </p><p>“Morning, Joo” the younger man is in front of him with full bags hanging from his hands, Hyunwoo lets him enter, his eyebrows are arched already questioning in his head why his friend is at his apartment, maybe 9 AM. </p><p>“So… are you going to tell me why you are here with those?”</p><p>“Of course, sweet Woo, today is Sunday-”</p><p>“I can tell” Hyunwoo chuckles. </p><p>“Don’t interrupt me” Jooheon is looking at him with a pout “how I was saying before you dared to cut me off”</p><p>Jooheon takes the things he brought out of his bags, there are lots of food, more snacks than a real meal but Hyunwoo is not gonna complain. </p><p>“It’s Sunday, I’m back and we should enjoy time together-”</p><p>And before Hyunwoo can say they did that yesterday night, the younger one keeps talking.</p><p>“At home! I brought snacks, beer, soju, interesting things I found in the convenience store” his hands are already on his hips appreciating the food on the counter. Hyunwoo has his arms crossed and a teasing smile is on his face.</p><p>“Okay, bring those, I will play a movie to watch”</p><p>Jooheon beams at the suggestion take everything his arms can and follows Hyunwoo to the living room. </p><p>“I went to Egypt, Woo! I thought I was going to be stuck in London for the 3 weeks but some friend I made there invited me and it was an incredible experience, we should go together” says Jooheon with bright eyes.</p><p>Hyunwoo sips his drink and smiles. </p><p>“When I get my vacation days I will tell you to start planning it”</p><p>“Yes, yes! Don’t forget to do it, Woo”</p><p>“I won’t”</p><p>“Oh, right, I wanted to ask about your new friend” Jooheon heard about his first weeks on Hyunwoo’s new job, he told him about his co-worker that was becoming his friend and the younger one was curious.</p><p>“Hyungwon?” Hyunwoo raises an eyebrow before taking the remote control of the TV to choose a movie. </p><p>“That one”</p><p>“There is not too much to tell, he gets on my nerves constantly but he’s a good guy. He helps me when I need it, chats with me and even if we both are kinda awkward we make it work, I think he doesn’t talk to anyone else there, we always have lunch together or go for coffees, and I have never seen him bring someone else” it wasn’t weird for Hyunwoo that Hyungwon was like that, both of them were similar, and he knew it was difficult for the taller to make friends. </p><p>“I see, that’s good, you have a new friend and someone to talk to there” Jooheon comments, watching how Hyunwoo goes from the top to the bottom of the movie’s catalog. </p><p>“Yeah, I don’t feel more lonely than I already am” he chuckled, two friends were okay, even if he can see them for days or weeks, it was okay. Even if Jooheon is whining. </p><p>“I’m sorry for being a bad friend, Woo” </p><p>“Nothing to be sorry, I’m okay with both of you, it’s enough and even more than I expected and wish sometimes” </p><p>The rest of the day is fun, they talk more, watch movies, series, overanalyze scenes, eat and play UNO. Hyunwoo enjoys it, he missed his best friend and his afternoons doing everything they could want in the moment. Soon the evening hits and Jooheon stands up. </p><p>“I have to go, Woo. See you tomorrow?”</p><p>Hyunwoo smiles and pats his friend’s back “tomorrow, honey”</p><p>Back to the calm. </p><p>Hyunwoo cleans around, takes the bags, arranges the food they didn’t finish, checks that Jooheon didn’t leave anything, and turns off the TV. </p><p>It’s kinda late when he finishes, he took a shower a few minutes ago, his blacks pants are covering his legs and some water droplets fall from his hair. </p><p>Now he can lay on the sofa but there is.</p><p>The peculiar envelope.</p><p>He takes the other mail on the table and puts it away, he feels he needs to give all his attention to this thing, it feels special?</p><p>Hyunwoo takes the envelope carefully, then grabs the small trinket with a flower in the middle that was inside. It is pink and glistening, seems like a droplet hug the flower inside. Around it has leaves and branches interlaced with each other, which looks like gold. He turns it around, it has carved a fine <em>K&amp;N</em> on the back. He smiles, it’s a pretty thing, it should belong to a necklace. </p><p>He leaves it on the table, then gently takes out the folded paper inside, what he didn't expect is another one hiding beside it. </p><p>There is a coffee scent from the letters, one of them is a little paler than the other and looks like it has more layers inside, the other one is a smaller paper folded, more simple, less lovely. Hyunwoo goes for the smaller one, too caught up in the moment to realize it should be a second part. </p><p>He lets the envelope with the other letter with more layers inside on the table. </p><p>And he opens it. </p><p> </p><p>「」</p><p>“Kihyun, I hate you,” said Minhyuk for the umpteenth time, Kihyun was unbothered laying the third box with his things on the floor. Five more to go!</p><p>“Stop whining and start helping” Minhyuk rolled his eyes and walked behind Kihyun. </p><p>They arrived an hour ago. Minhyuk wasn’t happy at all, he hadn't had breakfast, he was woken up by an angry Hamster named Kihyun at 7 AM, he didn’t have time for his morning face routine. In conclusion, Minhyuk wanted to kill his best friend. </p><p>“I told you that when we finish, I’ll take you for breakfast” yelled Kihyun, taking one of his boxes out of Han’s car. </p><p>“I hope you do, hamster, because I’m hungry and tired”</p><p>“You just help me with two boxes, snake, keep going so we can end this faster” </p><p>“If I’m a snake you know what they eat. Exactly, hamsters”</p><p>“Hurry the fuck up, Minhyuk”</p><p>After many complaints from Minhyuk, nagging from Kihyun screams for both of them when they found a bug, neighbors judging at them for the noise they were making and a “fucking finally, Yoo fucking Kihyun” from the one and only Minhyuk and a “Danm, it, Min, stop swearing” from a stressed Kihyun, they were ready for breakfast.</p><p>“I thought Hyungwon didn’t like to visit his parents”</p><p>Kihyun ended bringing Minhyuk to a cozy restaurant around the corner of his apartment, the place was well-known in the area for its unique designs on its meals. It wasn’t that big but it was perfect with its dim lights, colorful posters, and eclectic decorations.</p><p>“He doesn’t but it’s his mom and she’s kinda trying to make amends with him, Wonnie wants to try” Minhyuk shrugged. </p><p>Kihyun took a bite of the french toast he ordered, the look in Minhyuk was telling him that he was worried about his boyfriend and with a good reason. </p><p>Even when Kihyun is not a friend per se of Hyungwon, his parents, well just this mother, contacted him once. He still doesn’t know how that happened, but she wanted to know about his son. Kihyun didn’t know a lot about Hyungwon so he told her he wasn’t his friend. Days later he told Hyungwon about it and the taller one got really angry.</p><p>At the end Hyungwon told Kihyun about his parents and why, if they try even if it is only one, he shouldn’t tell him anything about him, anything, not about Minhyuk, not about where he lives, goes or works, not that Kihyun knew in the first place. </p><p>Hyungwon's parents were abusive. From what he told, Kihyun knew that they didn’t fond of Hyungwon being gay, they are very religious and conservative people so there was a point when they hated their own son. Hyungwon fought a lot with them, usually, he would be out most of the time trying to hide at least for a few hours.</p><p>When Hyungwon turned 18 he decided to leave. The abuse was getting worse, he couldn’t do anything without his parents knowing and scolding him. </p><p>He cut ties with them completely. Block them from every place he could, changing his address, his phone, his social media, and everything. Finally, he was tasting what he was pursuing for years: freedom.</p><p>“I’m sure they will be fine, Min, and if it doesn’t Won has you, that’s all he needs” Kihyun tried to comfort his friend who only gave him a weak smile and a nod. </p><p>“Yes, I know. Anyways! Changing topics, why did you choose this area? Dan told me you didn’t like the last one because it was noisy but this one is in a rowdy area, a good one, but loud”</p><p>“Actually my apartment is quiet, the streets that are close are really calm, and the landlady told the place is most of the time peaceful. I liked its vibe and design. It’s just 20 minutes from the school”</p><p>“Got it, it is actually pretty cool, I like it and you’re closer to me so we can hang out more!” Kihyun smiled at his friend and sipped his coffee. </p><p>The morning grew warmer despite the winter, some rays of the sun were beautifully hitting the tall buildings while Kihyun and Minhyuk were walking around, checking the clothing stores, pinpointing cool places to go sometime in the future, laughing about things they were telling each other and enjoying each other’s company. </p><p>Not many people were out so it was easy to navigate in the middle of everyone. Minhyuk made Kihyun stop for a moment when he saw a music store. Both entered the place to look around, Kihyun used to collect vinyl records until he moved with his ex-boyfriend, he stopped because his ex didn’t like his hobby but now he wasn’t there anymore.</p><p>“Look, Ki!” Minhyuk pointed to the set of vinyl records on sale, they were five for half price. </p><p>“It has artists that I like,” said Kihyun, passing his fingers on the cover of each vinyl, the shades from black to white, from the colorful meaningless to the defined figures, each one was beautiful.</p><p>“I’m gonna buy it”</p><p>They walked back in the afternoon, after having lunch together and talking more about themselves. Both were tired, Kihyun was tempted to tell his friend to stay the night but he knew Hyungwon would need Minhyuk in the morning. He watched his friend go.</p><p>“See you tomorrow, Ki!”</p><p>“See you”</p><p> </p><p>And night came slowly, Kihyun could feel himself surrender by the loneliness of his apartment and the silence around it. A cup of tea is in his hands, the light in his room is dim, he could hear some cars passing by from his balcony.</p><p>A knitted sweater from his mom was hanging in his figure, his hair was messy and his lips were warm thanks to his tea. The night was calm, was sad. </p><p>He knew this time would come, one way or another, earlier or later, he just didn’t want it to come in any moment by surprise, he hated it but it was a step forward to healing, forgiving and moving on. </p><p>Kihyun met his boyfriend two years ago when he used to work as a waiter in a restaurant. </p><p>The guy was on a blind date with a boy older than him, Kihyun was serving another table behind them. And he could see the date was dying swiftly. </p><p>“Bet that guy over there is going to leave in the next 5 minutes,” said Kihyun's co-workers, Kihyun looked in the direction of the said guy. The discomfort and boredom were present on the stranger’s face, it was obvious for everyone, surely for his date too. He had black hair, a dimple in his left cheek, small eyes, and long eyelashes, with a round nose, he was pretty, meanwhile the other had chestnut hair, his factions were strong and very outlined, attractive too. </p><p>“It’s uncomfortable to see,” commented Kihyun, taking the menu to offer to the new customers who just entered. </p><p>“Good evening, ladies, here you have the menu, in a few minutes my co-worker is gonna take your order, enjoy” the two women smiled at him and took the menu. </p><p>“Stop touching me, I told you I don’t like it” it was the table of the uncomfortable stranger, Kihyun smiled back and went to check the table he was serving. He was more interested in that stranger than his customers. </p><p>“Stop!” said the same guy from a moment ago, Kihyun could hear the chair creak from the abrupt move from the guy, he immediately looked over them and found the black-haired man standing up and looking in disbelief at his date. </p><p>“Gentlemen, is something wrong?” Kihyun knew he had to intervene and he did, both men looked at him. </p><p>“No”</p><p>“Yes”</p><p>Both said at the same time, Kihyun observed them. The one with black hair was furious and the other one was smirking. Kihyun shook his head, opting to do something right about the situation.</p><p>“I can see you're making him nervous and uncomfortable” he pointed to the chestnut boy “and he’s on his right to act like that in front of a jerk, so please can you leave, but before, pay for dinner because it’s what he deserves at least?”</p><p>Kihyun ended up receiving a warning from his manager and the phone number from the black hair guy, his name was Hyuk. </p><p>Their relationship was like any other, with their ups and downs, sometimes it was blue, others red and most of the time purple. They loved each other dearly or at least Kihyun did it. </p><p>Kihyun knew love was not easy, well, people don’t make it easy but he was determined, it will be a good story. </p><p>For a year it was good, great. Minhyuk and Daniel got along with Hyuk. His friends thought Hyuk was a good guy for Kihyun and Kihyun felt it was the first time he fell in love with someone because his last relationship was always lacking. He was unhappy with all of them but not with Hyuk. </p><p>You know, things don’t always go our plans always, sometimes people don’t expect certain things to happen, don’t expect people to appear in their lives or leave in the middle of something that looks beautiful. Surprises from life, that’s how they call them. </p><p>Kihyun hated surprises, he hated them the most when he thought everything was alright. </p><p>After sleepless nights, bright mornings, late-night teas, snacks at midnight, tears at dawn, screams at noon, and kisses at lunch, Hyuk told Kihyun he didn’t love him anymore.</p><p>It happens, doesn’t it? </p><p>No one prepared Kihyun for it, no one told him it would hurt as bad as it was. He would like to know before fell so hard, but no one is prepared for that, for loving or leaving, for a broken heart or for healing. </p><p>Hyuk didn’t love him anymore, after a year.</p><p>Hyuk was seeing someone else behind his back, someone he loved more than Kihyun.</p><p>
  <em>“It hurts, Hyuk” he whimpered that night. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I know, Kihyun, but you have to let it go” </em>
</p><p>Let go, what? A love he built for a whole year, without knowing, by himself? A man he thought was the one? A story he felt was perfect? Let go…</p><p>
  <em>“We can talk about it,” he pleaded.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The guy in front of him shook his head “no, Kihyun, we can’t, I can’t, I don’t want to”</em>
</p><p>Kihyun felt his heart torn apart, his bones becoming weaker, his chest hurting, his tears rolling down his cheeks. His head was a mess, there was turmoil in his stomach, he wanted to throw up, wanted to yell at Hyuk, break everything around him.</p><p>
  <em>“Forever” </em>
</p><p><em>Forever </em>felt like an old song you forgot you liked, like an old friend you left behind, it felt foreign and strange, because it was true at the moment but the moment is not there anymore. </p><p>
  <em>“I don’t love you anymore”</em>
</p><p>His things were on the sidewalk, he was expecting to come home to his lover’s kisses because his day was a mess, he got yelled at, almost lost his job, his fight with Minhyuk, he lost the bus and subway, he had to walk The winter was colder than the previous night but Hyk decided to left Kihyun’s things on the street and tell the younger he needs to leave. </p><p>
  <em>“We need to break up”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No, you need us to break up”</em>
</p><p>He was right. Kihyun sometimes, like this night back to the present, realizes when things started to go wrong, when feelings and touches lack love and he was the only giving. </p><p>
  <em>“Giving is too much, too tiring”</em>
</p><p>He did nothing wrong, it just happened. Things sometimes happen and don't have a reason to grow like that, even if Kihyun wanted reasons he wouldn’t find them, just Hyuk stopped loving him, it wasn't his fault. </p><p>Like falling in love without wanting it’s not someone’s fault, falling out of love is the same. </p><p>It hurts, still does, when he’s alone, by himself, when he goes back to the old memories when he finds excuses to lose himself in the past.</p><p>He had to move on. He’ll do it. Eventually. But tonight, let him cry, let him remember and break a little more inside, tomorrow will shine again, as it always does.</p><p>Just let him cry. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear N,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You know how much I hate to start my letters like that but I don’t have any more words left, I feel you’re slipping through my fingers and it’s hurting me so I have to let you go.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It’s been 10 years since your last letter, ten years since I told you I loved you, I don’t do right now. I understand you didn’t love me back then, at least the lack of letters made me realize that. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>But I needed to send this one, I needed to let you go. Even if you don’t live with your parents anymore, even if this letter never finds its way to you, I’m, at least, fine with the fact that I’m letting everything I was and everything I felt here. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m selfish because I’m doing this more for me, I want to let you go and this is my way to end things…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>By the way they started. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I loved you. I loved you with every piece of me, through every bad and good moment, in the middle of tears and laughs, I loved you and still kinda love you but it’s enough. </em>
</p><p><em>Take care, I hope you’re fine and happy, my</em> <em> love. </em></p><p>
  <em>K.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The First Letter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jooheon wants to fight his best friend.<br/>Daniel's first day at work!<br/>First letter for Hyunwoo and Kihyun but in different moments.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I made a mistake in the last chapter, Kihyun and his ex never went out with the other pairs at the same time, it would be Kihyun plus his ex with Dan and his girl or Min with Wonnie. SORRY!!</p><p>Today's chapter is kinda short (?) Hope you like it! We finally can see more about the letters and Kihyun finally found his!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Beautiful N, hey there</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Was it too much what I said? If it was, I take it back, I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk to me anymore but at least I want to know if you’re okay, you can be mad at me, you can hate me and write about it… At least do that. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Can we start again? Can we forget I sent it? Please, I, I don’t want those words if they’re gonna lead us here, I’ll take them back and we can go back too. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Are you okay? Tell me about your week, about your day, about whatever you want…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I know I said I’ll respect your space, that I’ll be waiting to send another letter when you reply to mine, that’s what you made me promise but I need to know about you for the last time, can I?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>K.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Jooheon, Jooheon, JOO!” </p><p>“What the hell is wrong with you?” asks Jooheon, his voice is raspy and low ‘cause he was sleeping, from inside of his apartment. </p><p>Hyunwoo has his forehead against the door waiting for his friend to open. </p><p>“I need your help,” says Hyunwoo as soon as Jooheon opens the door. Okay maybe Hyunwoo looks a little bit tired, worn-out, maybe he didn’t comb his hair and didn’t even mind putting on a shirt and maybe he seems like he just saw a ghost. </p><p>“Oh, no, no, you’re gonna play a joke on me again, no, Woo” and the fight between this too to close/open to the door starts. Hyunwoo has more strength than Jooheon but being kinda scared makes you strong sometimes. </p><p>“Joo, Joo, please, listen to me, it’s not a joke, I won’t joke about it again”</p><p>“Woo, fuck off, it’s 3 AM, and the last time this happened I had to sleep at yours for 2 weeks, I’m pretty okay with my present situation, not gonna risk that” Jooheon keeps pushing the door, all his force is on it that every word comes as a whimper. </p><p>“Lee Jooheon, open the door or forget about me cooking for you for a month” Hyunwoo has his teeth clenching, trying to intimidate Jooheon with his voice but talking about him it was just a calmer and deeper tone, nothing to worry about, the real threat was “not cooking for a month”.</p><p>“Fine!” the younger one stops putting force and opens the door completely, Hyunwoo looks at him with sweat already on his forehead. He’s catching his breath supporting his body on the door frame.</p><p>“God Damn it, Joo, I don’t where you get the strength every time you’re scared” Hyunwoo walks in, Jooheon closes the door and walks behind his friend.</p><p>“Yeah, whatever, you’re not here to talk about it, right? So tell me what made you bang at my door at forsaken hours on a Monday, don’t you have work tomorrow or something?” it’s actually 2:30 AM, Hyunwoo has to work in 5 hours approximately, Jooheon has a reunion with a producer in 7 hours and of course Jooheon is feeling a little murderous. </p><p>Hyunwoo already walked to his friend's kitchen and drank a glass of water in one gulp.</p><p>“I found something, I was going to wait until later but I couldn’t, it’s weird, I don’t think is for me at all” for Jooheon it is weird to see this Hyunwoo, his friend is thinking too much, looking everywhere, like if he was trying to gather his thoughts. </p><p>“Son Hyunwoo” </p><p>“Jooheon, what the hell, don’t call me by my full name, I’m older than you” it is funny to see how Hyunwoo is getting annoyed by these simple things at least that’s what makes Jooheon smirk in the middle of his sleepiness. </p><p>“Woo, explain, you woke me at 2 AM, go to the point” at the same time Jooheon is getting exasperated. </p><p>“Okay, okay, sit down, I’ll explain fast” </p><p>It was not anymore 2 AM, Jooheon really wanted to kill his best friend. </p><p>“I found this envelope last week with my other mail” Hyunwoo shows Jooheon the blue paper, he observed how his friend looked at it as it was the most mundane thing like nothing special was there.</p><p>“Hyunwoo, everyone can receive a letter, I know it’s 2021 and most send emails, text, video calls, calls, or whatever but this-”</p><p>“You’re not listening, I told you this is not for me. Watch this” the dried wax to seal the envelope with N. </p><p>“Your name has a N and everyone used to call you Nunu at college, remember?” Jooheon wants to sleep, his rational side is saying hello and he knows it means he’s done with whatever bullshit Hyunwoo was bringing him in the middle of the night. </p><p>“I, I didn’t remember that” he stutters, for a moment the thought of the letter was for him passes his mind “that’s not the case, the letters inside, those are not for me, it’s for someone who knew the person who sent these, read them” Hyunwoo feels desperate, he doesn’t even understand why he needs answers now, maybe because everything feels ten times worse or better at night. </p><p>Jooheon takes the letters in his hands, Hyunwoo gives him a bunch of papers. He reads it, then the other, his eyebrows are furrowed, eyes going from left to right, from top to bottom, trying to make sense in his mind of what is happening. Sometimes Jooheon gets surprised, he pouts, he tilts his head then comes back to a straight face. His index finger already found a way to go to his lips and his hand is supporting his head. </p><p>There were paper sheets after paper sheets, some of them cut by the middle, some others were incomplete as if the writer decided to stop before saying goodbye. There was a lot of feeling on those letters, from happiness to sadness, from excitement to hopelessness, the words sometimes made sense, in some letters there were drawings and beautiful details around its frame, others would look cold and sad those just have a few lines.</p><p>The paper feels heavy and rougher, Jooheon can smell a dim perfume, coffee too, some dust in between, he understands why Hyunwoo was like that, why he needed answers now and not later. </p><p>It felt like knowing a heavy secret, like having someone else’s life in your hands. Fragile, broken, scary… </p><p>“What should I do?” is the question surrounding them.</p><p>“I don’t know” </p><p> </p><p>“WAKE UP!,” revenge by Jooheon is heard through his alarm that was recorded in his studio, accompanied by Jooeheon’s voice live. </p><p>“Let me alone” Jooheon scoffs, he already drank 2 cups of coffee at 6 AM, he couldn’t sleep meanwhile Hyunwoo fell asleep ten minutes after he answered his question. </p><p>Now we have a grumpy Hyunwoo eating scramble unsalted eggs made by Jooheon, with eyebrow furrowed, a pout, a sweater he found from Jooheon and his hair sticking everywhere like a mad man. While Jooheon seems like falling asleep at any moment but at least he has a smirk, he knows Hyunwoo is pissed and that makes him happy, that’s what he deserves for interrupting his sleep.</p><p>“I really hate, Lee Jooheon”</p><p>“Oh, me too, Woo, don’t worry, it’s mutual” Jooheons sips his coffee and observes Hyunwoo on the verge of scolding him more “not my fault you decided to bargain in my apartment at dawn on day work. Consequences”</p><p>Hyunwoo would keep arguing with his friend but he has to get ready for work. </p><p>“You’re lucky I have to work, I have to go” he leaves the dish on the table and walks out of the apartment while Jooheon yells at him. </p><p>“AT LEAST WASH YOUR DISH OR A THANK YOU FOR THE BREAKFAST WOULD BE FINE”</p><p>Nevermind, Hyunwoo is already at his apartment. Jooheon sighs and decides to lay on his sofa for a few hours. </p><p> </p><p>“Good Morning, you must be Daniel Im, it’s a pleasure to meet you finally, we’ve been waiting for a new addition to my area, I’m going to show you around, present you to the people you're gonna work with and then we can start with your chores for today, got it?” tall and blonde, big lips, round nose, </p><p>a large neck and slim body, Daniel can tell his boss is annoyed, he wasn’t sure if he was the reason or it was because it was Monday. </p><p>“Good Morning, Mr. Chae. I’m glad to work with you” Daniel bowed at Hyungwon. </p><p>“Great, kiddo, let’s go, we’ll visit the CEO’s secretary” </p><p>Both men walked slowly, Daniel a few steps behind Hyungwon, the older would walk with his head up, straight back and observant eyes, Daniel could see that even with his glasses the tall man would see everything from his peripheral and would mentally take notes about it. </p><p>Daniel gazed around, he was trying to get any detail from the place so Hyungwon doesn’t have to explain him all over again or accompany him to places they already walked through. A call woke him up from his scanning. </p><p> “Hyunwoo!” He observed the man Hyungwon was smiling at, he found a tall, tanned man in front of him with a lot of papers on his desk and an irritated look on his face. </p><p>“It’s Monday and you have already that face”</p><p>“Hyungwon, shut it” tall tanned man has a deep lace voice, interesting.</p><p>“Whatever, I bring you our new victim!” the Hyungwon in front of him is playful, he likes that.</p><p>“Oh, hey, Daniel, I’m Hyunwoo” they shook hands. Hyuwnoo was smiling at him so he smiled back, he changed to another person as soon as he saw him. </p><p>Something that Daniel really appreciated was the fact that none of them call him his other name or ask him about why he uses an English name, he was more than grateful. He experienced a lot of times people asking him about it or changing his name because <em>the Korean one was better</em>, he didn’t care which one was better, he felt comfortable with Daniel and that’s it. </p><p>“Hello, I’m Daniel but you already know, it’s a pleasure to meet you”</p><p>“If you need something, don't hesitate to ask him, this pinhole sometimes forgets things or plays around so you can come to me if you need help” Hyungwon glared at Hyunwoo. </p><p>“Anyways! Gonna show the kid around, see you later, Woo, work hard!”</p><p>“Fuck off”</p><p> </p><p>Hyunwoo is sure he did something bad last week because he can’t believe his weekend and Monday were that hard and disastrous, at the very least he doesn’t have to babysit anyone. </p><p>Nevertheless, he had to be in two reunions with his boss because the other assistant couldn’t come again, at the same had to prepare the next reunions for the week, answer emails, fight with some directors of other departments and business because they wanted to see his boss but she was booked for the whole week. Adding to that, there were no chocolate muffins at the cafeteria, the coffee was not ready yet so he had to buy it from the coffee shop. The only highlight was meeting Daniel, a cute small boy with glasses, a defined profile, and a deep voice, he liked him. </p><p>At the moment, Hyunwoo is opening his apartment, the first thing he encounters is the envelope, he didn’t have time to think about it in the morning but now it’s all he can think about. What to do? Reply to the person? It looked like the sender was saying goodbye so why butt in? But they deserve to know, at least?</p><p>Hyunwoo sits in front of his coffee table where the letters are on, he observes it, studies it like if he’s gonna get an answer from it. <em>If I was in their place I wanted to know even when I stated that I didn’t care if they get it </em>he thought. </p><p>The thing is that he is curious, who sent that? Can he help the person with something? Because Hyunwoo got the letter, not the parents of the recipient, so maybe he can help somehow, he can obtain more information about who was before him and tell them about the letter or something…</p><p>That's it. </p><p>Hyunwoo takes a blank paper and a pen and starts writing, what can he lose? </p><p>
  <span>「」</span>
</p><p>Friday night came for Kihyun, after a stable week and unproblematic days, he could feel something was going to happen. </p><p>For Kihyun it was kinda weird to see Daniel and Minhyuk together at the same time and place, he knew his friends only talked about certain things, actually only about Kihyun. More these days because Kihyun was going to a breakup plus its whole process, he still doesn’t understand why they don’t get along at least not anymore ‘cause Kihyun can recall some moments when his friends talked politely and friendly, now they give each other the cold shoulder or denied him going out if that means the other was going to be there.</p><p>That was the main reason why Hyungwon didn’t know about Daniel, Minhyuk never talked about him unless is with Kihyun. </p><p>At the end of the day, Kihyun would never ask about it, the only time he did Minhyuk and Daniel ignored him or blocked him in the worst scenario so he decided he could live like that. </p><p>So of course seeing them at the coffee shop Minhyuk invited him was weird for him, did he miss something?</p><p>“Hey, Ki”</p><p>“Ki!”</p><p>Kihyun smiled at both and sat in front of his friends, he knew his eyes were questioning both of his friends, he could see them fidgeting with their cups and trying to collect their thoughts. </p><p>“Are you going to explain why I was invited here at 9 PM and why both of you are here?” He knew why he was there, but he tried to delay it a little more. </p><p>“Kihyun, are you okay?” asked Minhyuk while taking Kihyun’s in his. </p><p>“Oh, god, not this, we’re not gonna do this here” </p><p>Intervention. </p><p>The thing with breakups is that you have to go through the process of acceptance, resignation, forgiving, and moving on, it’s painful sometimes but necessary. Kihyun was aware of that but he wanted to go at his own pace, to enjoy being in denial some time then he would get mad, then cry like the other until everything was fine again. </p><p>“Yes, we’ll do it” intervened Daniel looking at him, a solemn gaze was on Kihyun and he wanted to erase it. </p><p>“Not in the middle of a fucking coffee shop, guys”</p><p>“We’re not gonna do it here!” Kihyun let a relieved sigh out, “we’re going to the night market!” </p><p>Nevermind. </p><p>“Min, no, Dan say something, I’m not going there, no” Kihyun was shaking his head, trying to stop his friend’s train of thoughts with his fierce gaze but deep down he knew they made a decision already and he doesn’t have an alternative. </p><p>“Yes, you’ll come with us, order your tea to go. Up, up, cutie pie” the high pitch from Minhyuk along with his clap made Kihyun stood up to order his tea. It was going to be a long night. </p><p>Maybe it wasn’t that bad, they were in the night market with lights, food, games, and people, it was a beautiful place full of life, Kihyun smiled, <em>sometimes interventions are not that bad</em>. </p><p>“Let’s play there!” screamed Minhyuk dragging Kihyun by his wrist, Daniel laughed and walked behind them. </p><p>They started with darts, the tent was made up of old cloth of different colors, along with fairies lights and a small space to play. They bet on who would get the higher score and would be excluded from paying for their next snack. Of course, Daniel won. He always does. </p><p>Kihyun found a few tents after that would sell<em> pungo ppang</em> so he walked there and ordered three bags with various fillings. He’s been craving for them since months ago. </p><p>The night continued with them buying street food, playing cards, watching people play board games, and singing songs they would listen to on the street. Kihyun couldn’t stop smiling, his dimples were upon his cheeks and Minhyuk would kiss his forehead when Kihyun was trying to tease Daniel about something. He felt happy, his friends were smiling too, laughing and playing with each other, it was like nothing could hurt them. </p><p>The three of them arrived at Kihyun's place pushing each other and laughing, at the moment Minhyuk was teasing Daniel ‘cause he tripped on the staircase. </p><p>“Shut up, guys, it’s late” whispered Kihyun trying to control his laugh. </p><p>“Oh, Kihyunnie, you love my laugh,” said mockingly Minhyuk. </p><p>“Ki” called Daniel but the older was distracted by Minhyuk tickling him. </p><p>“Ki” called again and the other two stopped. </p><p>“What is, Dan?” Kihyun was smiling, he looked at Daniel who had a tiny smile trying to suppress. </p><p>“I think you have to take your mail out of your box because it’s full,” Daniel pointed at Kihyun’s mailbox. Some paper could be seen from the aperture, almost going to explode. </p><p>“Oh, true, I have the keys here, I should take it now because I will forget later” Kihyun opened the mailbox and took everything that was inside.</p><p>“It’s strange there is so much paper when I moved here last week, I mean I haven’t updated my address only with the school” </p><p>“It is but check it out at least, maybe it’s for someone else but the mailman made a mistake” Minhyuk and Daniel shrugged, Kihyun had a frown. That was a big possibility. </p><p>“Okay, let’s go to my apartment, I can make you something,” suggested Kihyun, he started to walk to the elevator until Daniel’s voice interrupted him.</p><p>“I have to go, Ki, I’ll talk to you later. Goodnight” and before Kihyun could say something Daniel was out of the building already, Minhyuk frowned. </p><p>“We promised we would do this for you at least once,” he snorted. </p><p>“It’s okay. Let’s go, Min”</p><p>Kihyun’s apartment was on the first floor, number 109, he opened the door and invited Minhyuk to come on, both of them took their shoes off and Kihyun ran to his dining table to throw his mail. </p><p>“Wait here, Min, I want to change for a sweater” Kihyun disappeared inside his room, and Minhyuk decided to take a glass of water and check his friend's mail. He tilted his head when he saw a peculiar envelope, his eyebrows furrowed, and decided to leave his glass on the counter. </p><p>It was a simple envelope and that’s why Minhyuk got closer, not every day you can see a white piece of paper without any publicity, a bank logo, quirky designs, or some company name. This one had nothing of that, just one letter in the middle with a piece of tape sealing it. Minhyuk took it in his hands. </p><p>Kihyun walked to Minhyuk still adjusting his blue sweater, he lifted an eyebrow, Minhyuk was really focused on the paper in his hands. </p><p>“What do you have there, Min?” asked Kihyun while getting closer to his friend. </p><p>“I think this is for you”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So... what are your thoughts? Share them if you want!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Pretty N, Hello K</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Letters everywhere!<br/>Kinda boring but we need it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HELLO THERE! I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME TIME TO UPDATE, someone is reading this? Gosh, okay this last week was exhausting (you know what I mean) but we made it! I hope you enjoy today's chapter, leave comments if you want *wink*.<br/>Don't forget to stream Lose by Wonho and God Damn by I.M, and support wonho's comeback if you want, it's a bop!!!<br/>Ps. I'm sorry for any mistakes, I revised it when I was sleepy, sorry.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Pretty, N</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It’s difficult to write a letter for you, do you feel the same sometimes? It’s like I have a lot to say, many emotions, a few stories and there is just me trying to put everything together in a few lines, on a blank paper, it’s weird if you think about it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Maybe you don’t have the same difficulty as me because your letters were always beautiful and well-written while mine is a mess, at least you liked them… until the last one. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I remember you told me once to write to you as if I was talking to myself, forgetting if I make mistakes or say something wrong, I should feel free, I should be careful and lovely as I am with myself, I forget it every time I write to you but right now I have to write for myself like if you’re gonna read me. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>This week was boring… I wrote some songs. That’s the only exciting thing. One day you should listen to one, I know you checked my lyrics but I wished you could hear me sing, a friend helped me this time with the instruments and melody, I think it’s gorgeous. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Next time when you’re listening to those random playlists you love I hope my song it’s there ‘cause I know you love this one, I wrote it thinking about you. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“So, I’m here to revise your letter?” Jooheon is observing Hyunwoo, he’s still at the door with his phone in hand, his head is tilted and his expression is a funny confused one. </p><p>“Yes” answers Hyunwoo without blinking. </p><p>“How old are you, Woo?” now it’s time for Hyunwoo to tilt his head and draw his brows together. </p><p>“28, you know that, why do you ask?”</p><p>“Never mind, give me that”</p><p>
  <em>Hello, K.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m sorry to call you K (is okay?), I just don’t know your name (forgive me!), this letter came to my mailbox and I didn’t realize until now. I apologize in advance, I’m pretty sure you know by now that I’m not the person you intended to write to. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m sorry too because I read the letters you sent, I know I shouldn’t, but I thought they may be meant for me but then I realized I was wrong (people used to call me Nunu in high school, that’s why you know the -N-).</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The thing is that I didn’t meet the person who was before I moved in but if you want I can try to ask the landlord about them, maybe they can tell me where they are or why they moved. Even if time has passed I want to help you if you want to or need to. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’ll wait for your letter if you need anything, if you decide to not let me know too that’s okay. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please, don’t feel pressure, it’s okay, I mean everyone experiences love in different ways some better than others but it's part of the ride, I think…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hyunwoo</em>
</p><p>“Woo, did you really write this?” asks Jooheon, laying his eyes on his friend, who has his arms crossed and biting his thumb waiting for Jooheon to finish the letter. </p><p>“Uh, yeah, is something wrong?” Hyunwoo is anxious, there is a notorious trembling in his voice.</p><p>“Yeah, everything” Jooheon looks back to the letter in his hands.</p><p>“What is it? I thought it was okay…”</p><p>“The thing is K is surely ashamed for sending this to the wrong person, so maybe they won’t reply, tell them that, don’t wait for a response and don’t add your name, it’s dangerous, we don’t know them, what if they search for you or something?” he got a point.</p><p>“Joo, there are lots of Hyunwoo”</p><p>“I know but play their game, use an initial and that’s all”</p><p>Hyunwoo contemplates it, he kinda knew his letter wasn't the best one but what else can he say? He doesn’t know the person, doesn’t know anything about them. </p><p>He walks to his friend and sits beside him, he takes the letter and reads it again. </p><p>“Some changes… I can do that…”</p><p>“Just be straightforward, don’t go around in circles, tell them your intentions and what you found. And, Woo, the person said they were a teen so be careful with that” Jooheon pats his friend’s back and stands up. </p><p>“I have a reunion with a friend from London, I’ll talk to you later, Woo. Text me if you need something” </p><p>They bid their goodbyes and Hyunwoo is left with a new task for the day: write a better letter. </p><p>“I apologize for opening your letter… no, no, that doesn’t sound right… your letter was in my mailbox, maybe the mailman was mistaken, no… Fuck”</p><p>“Hey, mate… no wait, I can’t assume anything about them… Hello, human...  shit”</p><p>Hyunwoo is walking around his apartment, going from the kitchen to the bedroom, watching himself in the mirror of the bathroom while reciting his words, the only thing he can see is his desperation. </p><p>“Okay, Hyunwoo, this is easy, just go to the fucking point, it’s not difficult”</p><p>
  <em>I can’t do this. </em>
</p><p>He texts Jooheon 30 minutes later. The reply from his friend doesn’t take a lot of time.</p><p>
  <em>istg, write as if you were talking to Hyungwon but with the tenderness, you use with me. </em>
</p><p>That wasn’t a bad idea, actually. </p><p>
  <em>Thnks, Joo. </em>
</p><p>“I think I nailed this time, to be sure I won’t show this to Jooheon” the tanned man is admiring his letter, it’s short but he finished it and it looks pretty decent so why not send it now? It’s Tuesday, a perfect day to send a letter to a stranger. </p><p>“Happy Wednesday!” screams Hyungwon with a cup of coffee in his hands. </p><p>“What about it?” asks Hyunwoo, typing the last notes for the papers he has to send his boss. </p><p>“It’s a pretty day”</p><p>“It’s just Wednesday, Hyungwon”</p><p>“Hey! It’s not! It’s the Wednesday”</p><p>“Did I jump some days and we talked about something I should remember or what?” </p><p>A gentle smile is playing on Hyungwon’s face, his black hair now falling like dominoes letting his features stand out more, he knows at this hour Hyunwoo is busy and with the desire to kill someone so he usually goes to play a little with him to ease his job. </p><p>“No, my dear, you didn’t miss anything, you met our little Daniel yesterday…” Hyungwon looks at his nails, then back at Hyunwoo when he speaks again. </p><p>“Right, where is he?” </p><p>“He’s fighting with the photocopier,” says nonchalantly. Hyunwoo chuckles. </p><p>“You’re devil, Hyunwoo. The poor guy is going to be stuck the whole morning.”</p><p>“Nah, he’s smart, he’s gonna figure it out”</p><p>It’s cliché that every new worker will have to defeat the photocopier at some point, it’s like their initiation. </p><p>“I already finished, boss,” says a deep voice that startles both men. </p><p>“Told you” whispers Hyungwon before turning to Daniel.</p><p>Hyunwoo is in awe, the first time he tried to use that damn machine he literally broke it down and he almost cried. At least Hyungwon told him it happens all the time. </p><p>Actually, Hyunwoo is always on the verge of crying since he became the secretary of the CEO. With a good reason. </p><p>“I’m ready for my next task,” says Daniel, giving the stack of copies to Hyungwon. </p><p>“Good morning, Hyunwoo” </p><p>“Good morning, Daniel”</p><p>“Fake friend, you never greet me like that, Hyunwoo” scoffs Hyungwon, Daniel and Hyunwoo just laugh. </p><p>“Okay, kiddo, we have to go! Today’s the day we meet the HR’s director, allons-y!” </p><p>Hyunwoo watches how Daniel walks behind Hyungwon, his eyes are on the taller’s back, he looks a little a bit unsure with every movement he makes but Hyunwoo thinks it’s due to the fact that it’s a new environment for him. </p><p>“Good luck, guys” <em>they will need it. </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hello, K</em>
</p><p>
  <em>First of all, let me clarify some things: </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m not “N”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I read your letters, I’m sorry I thought they may be for me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I don’t know who was before me so I can’t give them your letters. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Okay, now that I stated that I want to offer you my help to find the person you sent the letters, if you want I can ask the landlord and deliver them to “N”. You can tell me to send them back too if you want that. Whatever you decide, please, let me know, I think these letters are too precious for you so I don’t want to throw them away. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>If you don’t reply I will assume you are not okay with the propositions, it’s okay, don’t worry, maybe you want to forget about them, it’s understandable. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I hope you’re okay, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sincerely, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>H.</em>
</p><p>“Ki, what is it? Did you send something?” Minhyuk is beside Kihyun reading the letter, none of them have any idea about it, it didn’t make sense for them even when the recipient is “K”.</p><p>Minhyuk thought it was for Kihyun because of the “K” but reading the letter he realized it wasn’t for his friend or at least that’s what he thought. </p><p>“No, I didn’t… maybe the mailman made a mistake,” said Kihyun bemused, he is studying the envelope and the letter, from top to bottom, trying to find a clue or something that tells him what was happening. </p><p>“Or not…” </p><p>Minhyuk took the other mail that was on the table, he started to read them, he realized something important: the recipient was a “Lee Hoseok”. </p><p>“What are you talking about, Min?” Kihyun looked at his friend who was reading the rest of the mail. </p><p>“Look at this, Ki, all of this it’s for a -Hoseok-”</p><p>“And who is Hoseok?”</p><p>“Pretty sure he was a tenant before you”</p><p><em>Could be, </em>Kihyun was bewildered by the letter, it was interesting… which letters that “K” sent? Who is “K”? Who is “N”?  Who the fuck is “H”? And why no one can use their names, it would be easier to know who he is talking to.</p><p>“Then… are you going to help “H”?</p><p>“Who?”</p><p>“The person who sent this letter. Look, we know they received these “K’s” letters that were meant to “N” but instead “H” got them, maybe he is a new tenant like you and thinks this “K” still lives here. They seem like a good person” said Minhyuk with his chin on his head, his uneven blink was more notorious thanks to tiredness from the day. </p><p>“Min, we can’t be sure about them being a good person, what if this is a scam and they’re trying to get information from me, they didn’t give a name or something, just a story about some letters, who does that?”</p><p>“A good person. Ki, listen to me, write them back, ask them questions or something, is not making you curious what is the story behind this?”</p><p>“Absolutely no, it’s a fucking scam, Minhyuk” Kihyun left the letter on the table and stood up “we should sleep, it’s late”.</p><p>Minhyuk pouted but he knew he didn’t have a chance against Kihyun, at least not after midnight.</p><p>“Fine”</p><p>It smelled like pancakes with honey, Minhyuk was aware that Kihyun woke up before him as always but he decided to wait a little bit laying on the bed. After a few minutes, Minhyuk took his phone and texted Hyungwon. </p><p>
  <em>Wonnie, baby, I’ll be back in the afternoon, gonna fight Kihyun about something, later!</em>
</p><p>Minhyuk was sure Hyungwon wouldn’t reply to him until it was noon so he had plenty of time to annoy Kihyun. </p><p>“GOOD MORNING” as soon as he entered the kitchen he greeted his friend. </p><p>“Min, for fuck’s sake, it’s early, don’t scream” Kihyun hissed at his friend with a spatula in his hand. </p><p>“Put that back, tiny” </p><p>“I’m gonna burn your breakfast”</p><p>“I dare you”</p><p>“Watch me”</p><p>Kihyun didn’t. Even if his best friend annoys him to the core he didn’t have the heart to do such a thing.</p><p>“Ki, did you think about the letter?” said Minhyuk taking a piece of his pancake, he hummed when the sweet flavor touched his tongue. </p><p>“I did, actually, isn't it risky?” he was hesitating, he weighed his options and outcomes, the sender knew his address, but not his name even when his initial was in the letter, he didn’t have to give the sender something else about him he could play safe as them and add a crappy signature. Whoever wrote the letter told him it doesn’t matter if he didn’t answer. He could tell them he was mistaken and the original writer who started this wasn’t him. </p><p>Many options. </p><p>“You don’t have to give them your name, occupation, or anything that can identify you, you can just sign as -K- well not as them but something like that”</p><p>“Okay, what if, a big WHAT IF I send them a letter, what should I write?”</p><p>“If you curious you can ask them about the letters, what can you do about-”</p><p>“Can I do about it?” interrupted Kihyun “I won’t do anything”</p><p>“Ki, is it not weird for you? What about those letters? What made this person send a letter offering help? Why send a letter when you can visit the address, they already know it?”</p><p>“It is, but that doesn’t make it less suspicious or dangerous, Min”</p><p>“I know, replying to them doesn’t something bad, if you want, just tell them that you are not that -K- and you don’t want to do anything about it”</p><p>“That could work…”</p><p>“Stop stressing about it, think about it later when I go to Won”</p><p>Saturday went smoothly for both friends, they talked about everything, Kihyun told Minhyuk a little bit about his ex and Minhyuk knew it was the first step for now. They watched some dramas and ate popcorn until Minhyuk had to get back to Hyungwon.</p><p>The afternoon for Kihyun consisted of cleaning, checking his supplies for the week, revising his student’s homework, preparing the activities for his classes and drinking cups of tea. The usual. </p><p>But in the back of his mind was a nagging feeling about that piece of paper lying on his table. Kihyun can’t understand why that letter is bothering him that much, he could ignore it but he doesn’t feel good doing that, he is curious and now that Minhyuk is not there he can admit it. </p><p>It’s 2021 who receives letters? Who sends them?  </p><p>Even having dinner doesn’t help him to forget about it. </p><p>He decided at the moment to write back because <em>whatever’s going to happen will happen anyway.</em> </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>What do you think? Hoseok is the first sender? or is someone else? Did you realize the time changes?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. First step: realization</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>More letters!<br/>Kihyun + Daniel = soft hours<br/>Hyunwoo + Jooheon = food and heart-to-heart moments.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Wonderful N:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>This is going to be short, I just need to vent before sleep. I was getting over him, I was moving on, you were inspiring me to do that, to make changes, to be honest, and not be afraid. But… it didn’t work in the end. I’m still angry, not at you, at me, because we could have a great time together if I wasn’t trying to get something far away from me, if I wasn't chasing past mistakes and loves, I was thinking too much about what happened and not what’s going on right now. I regret not enjoying more time with you, I regret talking about him, I regret I couldn’t see what was in front of me on time. When I realized I stopped knowing about you and that still hurts me. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>K.</em>
</p>
<p>“Good morning, teachers and caregivers, we have this reunion to check out your ideas for the annual trip of your classes,” says the headteacher from her seat, she is a young woman almost forty years old. Her long black hair drawn back and her big round eyes looking expectantly at her co-workers. </p>
<p>Kihyun let everyone pass before him, he’s not a fan of speaking first like Minhyuk who is presenting his idea with a bright smile and lots of gestures, he wanted to make a visit to the healthy pet center. After his co-workers present their plans and ideas accompanied by permission from the headteacher, it’s his turn to talk. </p>
<p>“Good morning everyone, I want to take my class to an entertainment company, WN company. It is 20 minutes from here, I already called and they told me they have a special tour for children. I look up at their facilities and it’s a pleasant place for the kids too. The main area, where I suggest visiting, is focusing on apps, digital content and few spaces for music” Kihyun showed photos to everyone and smiled pleasantly when the headteacher nodded at him. </p>
<p>“Okay, I received your ideas previously and all of you know that they are already approved, I just needed you to present them and see if there was any change. We talked with the places you’re gonna visit and they agreed. Next week is going to be busy, Hyu is going to tell you the schedule, it’s going to be on the principal board if you need to check it again” </p>
<p>The assistant, Hyu, stood up and started to present the schedule. </p>
<p>“For the first-class Lion with Miss Chunghee, Monday from 8 AM to 11 AM. Second class…” Kihyun again ignored the rest of the days which weren’t for him. </p>
<p>“Third class Hamster with Mr. Kihyun on Wednesday from 8 AM to 11 AM,” Kihyun wrote down his hours and day, he looked at Minhyuk who was smiling when he heard he will be out with his class on Thursday. </p>
<p>“You ended up going for my idea,” said Minhyuk when they left the reunion. Kihyun shrugged. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I didn’t know what else to do and it’s close to my home, I know the area”</p>
<p>“Just consider that Wonnie works there” Minhyuk hated when his best friend and boyfriend fight, he would try with all his might to avoid any conflict, even when he knew both of them will be at work and that it was almost impossible for Hyungwon to lead the tour, he was a little nervous. </p>
<p>“I know, Min, nothing bad is gonna happen, we are going to be at work, I’m not visiting him or something like that, we can be civil when we need to,” said Kihyun nonchalantly, he walked to his class with his friend behind him, he was humming a kids song to prepare himself to receive his class on Monday. </p>
<p>The day went smooth, Kihyun and Minhyuk chatted during their break, his class was noisy as always and got louder when he let his children know that they were going to visit WN company, they were excited watching the photos of the place and when Kihyun told them about the things the company does. After that, he gave his class written permission for his parents to sign for them to go. </p>
<p>Kihyun visits the cafe in front of the company where he will go with his class and orders a ginger tea. He's planning to take the kids there so they can eat some cookies or pies from the place. It was big enough to welcome a class of 20 kids. </p>
<p>The walk to his apartment was quiet, drinking his tea and enjoying the chill weather. He was swinging on the sidewalk looking at the stores until he felt his phone vibrate. It was Daniel.</p>
<p>“Ki!” screamed Daniel excitedly. Kihyun smiled. </p>
<p>“Dan, what's up?" </p>
<p>It has been a week since the annual hiatus from Daniel, they saw each other on Friday night, they talked, joked, and had fun together but Daniel didn't talk about him at that time, his concentration was on Kihyun and his breakup intervention. In that week they didn't chat nor talk and Kihyun knew that was normal, usually, he wouldn't talk to Daniel after that "break" because it's like he likes to be by himself, everyone knows that, so you have to wait until he comes to you. </p>
<p>"Lots of things, Ki, sorry for not calling last week and just attach me on Friday" </p>
<p>"No worries. Tell me about the news, son, I'm here to listen to your achievements of the week" </p>
<p>"Oh, yeah yeah, first I started to work at the company I had an interview when you were moving, I think I didn't tell you but it's WN company, it has been an experience–" </p>
<p>"Wait, I'm going there next week with my class!" </p>
<p>"Damn it, I want to tour your kids, but pretty sure I won't, I'm in the Global Logistics area, well, everywhere, my boss is handsome and all but left me a few silly things to do, he's a good guy and his friend is handsome too, Ki, I don't talk to him a lot because he is the secretary of the CEO but he looks cool too. And what I really liked is that none of them asked about the Daniel thing, you know that usually leads to awkward questions and some problems. But with them it was great" Daniel sounded happy and that made Kihyun happy too, his friend had encountered not-so-great situations in his jobs, that's the reason he decided to work from home for a few months. </p>
<p>"Amazing, Dan, I’m happy to hear that. I will text you when we arrive so you can escape from your boss for a few minutes to say hi” Daniel hummed with the proposition of Kihyun.</p>
<p>“I’ll try, Ki. Oh, something else, they bicker a lot just like you and Min, it’s fun to see it. My other co-workers are good too, in just one week I learned a lot from different areas and rotated to different floors each day, today wasn’t an exception. Hyungwon told me it’s because I need to learn from everything and everyone if I’m working with him”</p>
<p>“Hyungwon? Oh, that’s Min’s boyfriend” there was a pause before Kihyun could hear Daniel’s breath.</p>
<p>“Really? Didn’t know, I mean, how would I know if we don’t talk, right? I didn’t even know he has a boyfriend. Well, he is cool” </p>
<p>“Can’t say the same, he hates my guts” Daniel wasn’t aware of many things, sometimes that would affect him, he felt that closing himself was letting him out of being part of his best friend’s life but he couldn’t help it. </p>
<p>“And that is because…?”</p>
<p>“Minhyuk and I dated” another pause. Kihyun hated those small moments when he couldn’t read his best friend when he would say something that triggers Daniel and makes him upset, he learned with bad experiences, and occasionally that would lead him to look into his friendship to find where things went wrong. </p>
<p>“That infamous time. He should get over it, Minhyuk is with him and you are just a friend like me, have you tried to talk to him?” for the first time in years Daniel seemed to take that topic lightly. Kihyun, on occasions, thought Daniel was in love with him, somewhere in his friendship, because he got uncomfortable and would close himself up when the dating thing was brought, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the problem. Things were going down before that, even when they tried for the sake of Kihyun, nothing would come out of it. Kihyun never knew about what Daniel and Minhyuk talked about when he wasn’t around or if they talked at all, he would never know about the things his two friends did together and they would never know Kihyun was aware of his two friends being together before college started. </p>
<p>Minhyuk and Daniel were a particular case which Kihyun was interested to discover but he gave them time to come clean and tell him the truth. Someday they’ll tell him and he was sure it was soon because both of his friends were healing and feeling better. He was the only one behind those advances.</p>
<p>“That’s what I tell him all the fucking time. Of course, I tried but the idiot ignores me or plays dumb, I can’t stand him”</p>
<p>Daniel snickered.</p>
<p>“Maybe there are things you don’t know that he makes him not like you”</p>
<p>“Hates me, Dan, he hates me”</p>
<p>“Nah, pretty sure he doesn’t, hatred is powerful to feel it for someone you don’t know” he knew beforehand about it. </p>
<p>“Possibly. Letting that aside, I’m glad you’re having a good time there, you sound fine and energetic, it’s been a long time since I heard you like that” <em>years if I could tell </em>Kihyun thought. </p>
<p>Daniel chuckled “seems like I never enjoy life, Yoo, stop that. I’m fine, better, thank you” Kihyun limited himself to hum, he didn’t want to say something wrong. </p>
<p>“Ki, I have to go, Myeong-suk is here and she cooked for us, it was her turn, talk to you later”</p>
<p>“Say hi to her, tell her we need to catch up and share some recipes, her lemon pie was wonderful”</p>
<p>Kihyun heard them talking but couldn’t understand what they were saying, only some laughs and a cheerful “Kihyun! Hello!”</p>
<p>“Hey, Suk!” he said back. </p>
<p>“That’s my girlfriend, Yoo Kihyun, more respect please”</p>
<p>“Ignore him, Ki, text me later if you need me to send you a new recipe”  Myeong-suk’s voice was soft and joyful, with a medium tone and a young vibe no one can ever ignore, Kihyun liked her for his best friend. There was no other person better for Daniel than Myeong-suk, that’s why she felt like a sister for Kihyun. </p>
<p>“Got it, Suk, take care of both of you. Enjoy your afternoon, if you need something call me, guys, love you, bye”</p>
<p>“Bye, Ki,” said the couple laughing, Kihyun smiled and hung up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jooheon”</p>
<p>“For fucks sake, now what?” says Jooheon opening the door to find a disheveled Hyunwoo leaning on the door frame. </p>
<p>“Honey, you know how much I love you, how much I appreciate the fact you came to this filthy earth to eradicate the wrong and bad from this world with your pure and honest eyes that–”</p>
<p>“Is a letter, isn't it? Come in, order something, you pay” </p>
<p>Jooheon walks to let himself plop down on the floor in front of his coffee table, Hyunwoo follows him with a new envelope in his hands, he swings the paper and takes a seat beside his friend. </p>
<p>“I want fried chicken from that place down the street, tell them to add soda and one chocolate cake for two” </p>
<p>Hyunwoo sighs, he can’t believe he has to bribe his friend with food to make him help him with the letter. Actually, he can. After waking Jooheon up at a dreadful hour, ask him about how to respond and revise his letter, also Hyunwoo decided to annoy his friend all week about the letter asking constantly if he did the right thing if he should send another one, how much time they gonna take to reply back and more…</p>
<p>Honestly, Jooheon was a little bit tired but he’s not gonna lie, he’s intrigued by the whole situation, he wanted to understand it and find what happened, plus he’s helping his friend. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo takes his phone out and orders from an app, Friday arrives so it is okay for both of them to relax while discussing the letter thing. </p>
<p>“It will arrive in 40 minutes. We have time”</p>
<p>Jooheon lets his phone aside when hears Hyunwoo’s voice, he looks at his friend expectantly his sharp eyes scrutinizing the envelope in his friend’s hands. </p>
<p>“They replied”</p>
<p>The younger’s eyes open more, his mouth is slightly open showing he is surprised. Hyunwoo chuckles and passes his fingers through his hair, he can see Jooheon is being dramatic and not taking the situation quite seriously. </p>
<p>“You haven’t opened it”</p>
<p>“I haven’t”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>The tanned man contemplates his answer. <em>Why. </em>There are lots of reasons. What if everything ends here? What if whoever sent the first letter is mad or just wants to let it go? What if his hope of something new dies as fast as he got it? What if he’s in trouble for sticking his nose where no one asked him to?</p>
<p>“I’m scared”</p>
<p>Jooheon’s gaze softens, he pats his friend’s back and smiles “of what exactly?”</p>
<p>“This is the most exciting thing that has happened to me in a long time. Yeah, getting a job here as the CEO’s secretary in one of the most important companies in the country it’s cool and all but… it is not something to thrill me or you know, it is something I planned for months, it’s mundane, it’s a job, in a new city where nothing else occurred to me until now” Hyunwoo has his gaze pinned on the envelope, he squeezes the paper in his hands and lets a sigh out. </p>
<p>“Nothing interesting happens, Joo, never to me. No relationships, just a few friendships that I appreciate, but I crave for something else, I feel numb sometimes. I feel a weird necessity to feel something new, even a heartbreak would be great. So what if this letter ends my expectations of a difference in my life. I was excited when I read the first letters, when I wrote mine and when I got this one this afternoon” there was desperation, melancholy, and hope in Hyunwoo’s eyes, his fingers going from one corner to another of the letter, his cheeks are rosy and his voice is trembling. </p>
<p>“Woo, you should speak more about how you feel, I know I leave sometimes, I know it seems you can’t reach me but you can, I’m here and I will be, you can confine your feelings and stress to me, I’m your best friend and you’re mine, we are together in the shitty moments and the greatest ones” Jooheon takes a pause to look at his friend, Hyunwoo is looking down and is biting his lip. Jooheon passes an arm around his shoulders and squeezes him. And he keeps talking.</p>
<p>“Whatever happens I will be here for you and we can find a way to overcome this, okay? Get excited for this, that’s okay, just to depend on it for your happiness, Woo” a fine line made by his mouth is decorating Hyunwoo’s face, he nods and looks at his friend to end up hugging him. Jooheon laughs.</p>
<p>“Easy, Woo. You know, I forgot for a moment you are older than me”</p>
<p>“Shut up, brat, I’m giving you love and you’re ignoring it. I need a new best friend”</p>
<p>Jooheon scoffs “never”.</p>
<p>“Okay! Time to read the letter, open it!”</p>
<p>The two men share a nervous smile, Hyunwoo touches the envelope carefully, his heart is beating fast. He realizes there is no wax sealing the envelope, it doesn’t feel full like the other one, it’s light and thin. He opens it and takes a simple blank paper out of it. It doesn’t smell like coffee, but there is a scent of the ocean and cleanliness clinched to the letter. </p>
<p>“I can’t, Joo, read it first and tell me what it says,” says Hyunwoo giving his friend the letter, Jooheon rolls his eyes but takes the paper. </p>
<p>Just a few minutes later Jooheon speaks. </p>
<p>“They say to leave it” he looks deadly serious, Hyunwoo presses his lips in a fine line and his eyes start to shine with a few tears collecting inside them, he watches his finger wiggle until he hears Jooheon’s laugh. </p>
<p>“Woo! Oh my, I didn’t know this was going to get you like this. I’m sorry, man, they didn’t say that, I recommend you to read it, you’re gonna like it” Jooheon gives him the letter back and runs to the door when he hears the intercom. </p>
<p>“Read it, I’ll be back,” says before taking the stairs to the lobby. </p>
<p>“Okay, let’s do this”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Hello, H. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m not “K”, at least not the one you are looking for, but my name starts with K so I thought the letter was for me but then I realized it was not. I don’t know about the letter you are talking about, I moved here a few weeks ago and I didn’t meet who was before me. </em>
</p>
<p>Hyunwoo’s brows furrow but he keeps reading even when he is not getting any answer. </p>
<p>
  <em>To be honest with you I was going to throw away your letter and forget about it but a friend talked to me and said you offered help, for him you seem like a good person for willing to help someone you don’t know I would say it is stupid and dangerous, however, I’m doing the same thing right now. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Look H, I don’t know you, you don’t know me, anyhow I want to help too, I’m curious about all of this. You wrote about “letters too precious” I am intrigued by them. I want to read them too if you let me.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I have a proposal. I will help you to find these people, we can start asking the owners of the building where we’re living and see if you can get their contact or something. We can ask our neighbors too. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m aware I’m not the one you were looking for but we can be in this together and see what comes from it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Write back if you find something or want to stop this. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>KY.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ps. Sorry I can’t tell you my name yet, I’m already uncomfortable with you having my address. </em>
</p>
<p>“Wasn’t that bad?” says Jooheon close to Hyunwoo’s ear, the older man jumps in his place and touches his chest with his hand. </p>
<p>“God, Joo, what the fuck? When did you come back?”</p>
<p>“Did you think I was going to take forever getting our food? You paid already, I just had to pick it up. Let’s start to eat, you can tell me what is going to tell the new K”</p>
<p>The smell of chicken is filling Jooheon’s place, both of them are munching their food, none is talking and Jooheon can see Hyunwoo is thinking about what to say so he lets him until he is ready. </p>
<p>“They want to help”</p>
<p>“I read that”</p>
<p>“They have a plan”</p>
<p>“A smart one”</p>
<p>“They want me to send them the letters”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but you can just send one”</p>
<p>“They’ll help”</p>
<p>“Yes, Woo, I heard-”</p>
<p>“I won’t do it”</p>
<p>Jooheon lets his piece of chicken fall into the box, he cleans his mouth furiously with a napkin and glances at his friend.</p>
<p>“You’ll do”</p>
<p>“I won’t”</p>
<p>“Oh, for fuck sake, Hyunwoo, you wanted this”</p>
<p>“Not like this”</p>
<p>“Hyunwoo this is why you can’t enjoy anything because you are not open to things if something changes you close yourself if something doesn’t go your way you leave it if you want to start to enjoy things to find that new feeling, you need to let go and dive in. Don’t jump to conclusions, meet this KY better, do what they said and send them a letter or whatever. You promised yourself to do it if you received an answer, you have it, now write a damn letter back and ask around. Both of you want to find the owners of the letters then fucking do it” Jooheon is not angry, he is more tired of Hyunwoo locking himself in when things like this happen when his expectations don’t go according to his imagination. </p>
<p>“Maybe…”</p>
<p>“No, no, don’t give me that shit. You’re gonna do it, I’ll make sure of it, tomorrow we will ask around, we call the landlord and everything, then you’ll write to KY to tell them about your discoveries. End of the discussion, eat your chicken”</p>
<p>And eat they did. The letter issue was left there. They needed a break before their journey. </p>
<p>“Mr. Yoon, can you tell us who was before Hyunwoo?” Jooheon insisted to call the landlord first, even when Jooheon moved before Hyunwoo he never saw someone inhabiting that apartment, he met everyone from his floor, but Hyunwoo’s. </p>
<p>“Kid, why do you wanna know?” Mr. Yoon sounds cautious. </p>
<p>“We bet on who was before Hyunwoo, if they were younger than Hyunwoo I would win if they were older he wins” but Jooheon is good at lying. </p>
<p>“Don’t bet on things, kids”</p>
<p>“Mr. Yoon”</p>
<p>“Lee Jooheon, I can’t tell you about other tenants. All I will say is that there was a family for years, that’s all” Jooheon smirks, Hyunwoo has his eyes quite open listening to his landlord. </p>
<p>“I don’t remember them”</p>
<p>“They left 3 months before you”</p>
<p>“Oh, makes sense, that means Hyunwoo won then”</p>
<p>“Precisely” </p>
<p>“Thanks for making me lost, Mr. Yoon, have a good day!”</p>
<p>“There was a family, then maybe they are really a teenager”</p>
<p>“Our first clue!” the younger one is excited that he’s bouncing, for him, it is like a treasure game.</p>
<p>“Honey, we’re not playing, don’t take this lightly” reproaches Hyunwoo with his arms folded. </p>
<p>“Come on, Woo, we should get some fun from this, enjoy the path. We should ask the neighbors too”</p>
<p>They spent 4 hours asking around, not because there were lots of people but other tenants wanted to say a lot, wanted to tell stories that didn’t involve what Hyunwoo and Jooheon wanted to know. They went to other floors too. They asked about “Jihoon” the name that was in one of the mails for Hyunwoo’s apartment, no one remembered it until they found a grandma from the 009 apartment. </p>
<p>“Boys, you want some tea?”  the lady was kind, with wrinkles on her forehead and moles on her hands, a cane was helping her to stand up and her dog was a black labrador with its tongue sticking out. </p>
<p>“It’s okay, grandma, we are in a rush actually so we need to hurry, could you tell us about Jihoon, please?” Hyunwoo was better at interacting with people older than him, on the contrary Jooheon always end up with his cheeks pinched or being scolded. </p>
<p>“Oh, yes, yes, boys, I didn’t see him quite often, I usually saw his wife, I don’t remember her name at the moment, she was lovely, she would bring me soup or cookies, kind woman, I think their son wasn’t leaving with them, he left a few years ago”</p>
<p>“Uhm? He was really young…”</p>
<p>“Oh, no, sweetheart, he is in his twenties, I never met him, maybe just saw him once but I can’t figure if he was their son or someone else. Back to Jihoon, I stopped to see him weeks before Mr. Yoon told me they moved on, don’t know what happened, boys” Jooheon and Hyunwoo thanked the lady, Ms. Jun, and said goodbye. </p>
<p>“You should look up at Jihoon '' they're back to Hyunwoo’s apartment, Jooheon is laying on his friend’s sofa with his arms covering his eyes. </p>
<p>“I did that, there are lots of Jihoons out there, Honey. I will tell KY what we found and the name of this guy, I will explain what happened” </p>
<p>“Woo, you should exchange social media to make this easier”</p>
<p>“They say they were uncomfortable”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but, you can send a photo or give the first step, tell them your username from somewhere or your email”</p>
<p>“I’ll think about it”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Are you ready to move forward, boys?</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HELLO!!! OMG I promised myself I was going to update on Wednesday but no, I didn't, sorry! So... what do you think? Did you get some clues? Are you excited about Kihyun's class trip to WH company? We're finally on the road to discover who wrote those letters!!! I'm so happy. Tell me about your thoughts! See you soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Nothing ever lasts forever</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There are lots of meaning within "nothing ever lasts forever"<br/>*I recommend listening to "Everybody wants to rule the world" by tears for fears from the part where Hyunwoo takes the elevator with Daniel*</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Pretty N, hi</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>So I was listening to the songs you recommend to me in your last letter, I loved them, I added them to my playlist I listen to them on the way to school and back home, I feel like the main character in a teen movie, well, we are still teens, close to adulthood, isn’t terrifying? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>About the songs, I would love to make songs like that someday, will you listen to them? I will send them to you when I finally feel satisfied. I talked to one of my classmates and he said he was willing to make something with me, I’m excited, N, and I wish you knew…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You haven’t sent a letter since mine… Are you mad? Did I make you uncomfortable? Can we forget about it, N? It’s okay, believe me… it is. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They said a neighbor told them about a family you lived there for years, she remembers a son but doesn’t recall his face or name, ‘H’ says he thinks the boy was ‘N’ and she only saw the wife often but the husband was nowhere to be seen and…” Kihyun pauses, Minhyuk is watching him through the camera, they’re video calling. Minhyuk gestures to him to keep going.</p>
<p>“Earth to Ki, what else?” He is eager to dip into the tea. </p>
<p>Kihyun shakes his head and a wicked smile appears “sorry, they-” he pauses again because he can’t believe he’s going to finally meet how “H” looks. </p>
<p>“They wrote their IG user” he can’t suppress the big smile that is growing, he is excited about this he can’t lie anymore to himself. The situation is odd but he can’t deny it is fascinating. </p>
<p>Minhyuk yells and throws his whale plushie into the air “oh my god” keeps repeating. </p>
<p>“Look up for them, Ki, gosh, go, go, type it now!”</p>
<p>Kihyun gazes at his friend and laughs, his fingers tremble when he exits the video and just leaves the call on, he opens Instagram and starts to type while saying out loud each letter “@sho…” </p>
<p>And darkness. </p>
<p>“Are you fucking kidding me?” said Kihyun when he realized there was no light in the room, he stopped hearing Minhyuk’s voice, he looked up at his wifi and there was no signal. He rubbed his face with his hand and walked to the switch with his phone in hand.</p>
<p>Turn it off. Turn it on. </p>
<p>No, there was no electricity. </p>
<p>He took his keys and opened his door when Minhyuk called him. </p>
<p>“YOO KIHYUN! WHAT THE HELL? WHERE ARE YOU? THEY WERE THAT BEAUTIFUL THAT YOU DIED?” Kihyun moved away from his phone from his ear, Minhyuk was being too loud. </p>
<p>“Stop it, Min, it’s not that, there is an outage” he looked around and found his neighbors opening their doors and looking at each other questioning <em>what happened. </em></p>
<p>“Oh, heck, is it not back yet?</p>
<p>“No” he whispered.</p>
<p>“I called the landlady but apparently it was the area, not just the building” he heard a woman said, Kihyun took a deep breath and leaned his head on the door. </p>
<p>“Min, can I stay with you? I don’t know when is going to be back and I need to keep doing the activities and schedule for the kids” he was tired, it was Saturday night and he was taking a break calling Minhyuk but not anymore, no calls, no work. </p>
<p>“Yes, I’ll tell Wonnie and…”</p>
<p>“Fuck, Hyungwon, right. Look, let me ask Daniel first and then I’ll go back to you if he’s out or something”</p>
<p>“Okay, Ki, call me back, please! Take care”</p>
<p>“You too, Min”</p>
<p>Kihyun walked back to his apartment, took a backpack, and started packing the important things while dialing Daniel.</p>
<p>“Hey, Ki! What's up?”</p>
<p>“Night Dan, I have a situation here, there is an outage in my area and we don’t know where it is going to be back. I want to know if I can stay with you at least today?” </p>
<p>
  <em>Laptop, notes, clothes, underwear… my creams, fuck.</em>
</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah, man, I just let you know  Myeong-suk is here”</p>
<p>“My baby is there, I miss her, you monster never let me see her, pretty sure she misses me too” Kihyun loves to tease Daniel, he gets grumpy when he doesn’t receive lots of attention. </p>
<p>“Because you left me behind every time you meet” Daniel whines. </p>
<p>“Don’t be a baby brat, I’m gonna cook for both of you and we’ll have a good night, also I have to work for this week, remember I’ll go to your company” he finished his backpack and an extra bag with other things left his place. </p>
<p>“I’ll take a taxi. See you in 30 minutes”</p>
<p>“Take care, Ki, we will wait here”</p>
<p>Kihyun watched how his neighbors were talking with each other and trying to decide what to do. He could hear some people say that those things never happened there before. He chuckled. <em>There is always a first time for everything.</em> He sent a message to Minhyuk and saved his phone in his pants. </p>
<p>The ride was peaceful. He saw some people going to parties, others eating at restaurants, there were lots of places open with big signs on the front, bright lights and loud music (not from his area of course). He enjoyed the air hitting his face like in the movies, watching everyone come and go. </p>
<p>The drive stop in red light and Kihyun watched the restaurant beside the street, it had bright yellow lights in bottles, lots of old photographs, a bench outside, a line of fairy lights on the entrance, it looked big and cozy with some sofas and wood chairs and tables, he could hear the people chatting and laughing but a table captured his attention for a moment, he saw a blond guy with dimples smiling, beside him was a buffy man with black hair, a pretty laugh, and nose, the last one he couldn’t see his face just his wide back, brown hair. Just when he was going to look in his direction the light changed to green and Kihyun only could see his defined jawline and cinnamon golden skin.</p>
<p>“I’m here! Where is my princess?”</p>
<p>“Ki!” said Myeong-suk running to his friend and clinging to him like a koala. </p>
<p>“Of course, let me out of the welcoming, betrayed by my own girlfriend and best friend” Daniel huffed and walked to the kitchen. Kihyun and  Myeong-suk laughed, the girl ran towards Daniel and clung to his back to start kissing his cheeks. </p>
<p>“Stop sulking, Dan, there is enough Kihyun for everyone” he left his backpack on the sofa and watched how the couple were laughing and playing together. He really loved them both. </p>
<p>“Okay, kids, I hope you haven’t had dinner because I’m in the mood to cook for us”</p>
<p>“Kyunnie wanted to order pizza but I told him I miss your food, Ki” it was weird hearing part of his friend’s name after a lot, it was natural for Myeong-suk to call him that, for Kihyun it was still shocking. </p>
<p>“Thanks for listening to Suk, Dan” Kihyun laughed when Daniel rolled his eyes and hug his girlfriend “now, out of here, children, an adult has to make dinner”</p>
<p>“If you need help call us!” screamed Myeong-suk while Daniel was grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to the living room. </p>
<p>“Go!” said Kihyun with a smile. </p>
<p>Kihyun cooked a mushroom sauce pasta and a small vanilla bread with chocolate chips. They enjoy their dinner talking and laughing. Daniel told Kihyun more about his job, Myeong-suk told him about her work as a choreographer in this new company he didn’t catch the name and Kihyun told them about the tour to WN company and showed them photos of his kids at a class doing their weekly activities. </p>
<p>After washing the dishes they went to the living room to watch a movie. Kihyun took his laptop and continued with typing his schedule, the activities, and settled his class’s portfolio. From time to time he heard the couple joking, telling him about something, watching them poke at his work, or just checking whatever was happening in the movie. </p>
<p>At midnight he turns off his laptop, he stretched, Daniel and Myeong-suk were asleep hugging each other waiting for Kihyun to finish, the older soften at the sight, he didn’t want to wake them up but knew it was necessary if he didn’t want to hear complaints the next day. </p>
<p>“Dan, Suk, wake up, let’s go to your room” he cooed at them waiting for them to open their eyes, just Daniel opened an eye and glanced at Kihyun, he was disoriented and the sleepiness was obvious in him. </p>
<p>“Hey, Dan, baby, time to go to bed, you and Suk need to sleep there” still confused and groggy, Daniel nodded and stood up, Kihyun lifted up Suk and walked to Daniel’s room with his friend walking behind. </p>
<p>He set Myeong-suk softly on the bed and Daniel lay beside his girlfriend “night night, Ki” murmured and turned to his right to hug Myeong-suk. Kihyun covered them with a bedsheet and went to the sofa to sleep. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Woo, hurry up, my friend is going to be there soon” reprimands Jooheon. Hyunwoo takes a last look at his reflection, a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a brown jacket. <em>Great. </em></p>
<p>“I’m done. Honey, you’re hurrying me when you just told me like an hour before, these are the consequences” </p>
<p>Jooheon whines and takes Hyunwoo’s hand to pull him out of his apartment “yeah, yeah, lecture me later, it’s late”</p>
<p>It was Saturday, Hyunwoo thought it was going to be a peaceful day, he needed to rest from a hectic week babysitting his boss’s kids, attending at least 2 reunions every day, and gathering information about the old tenants. Therefore, his friend didn’t get the memo. Jooheon knocked at his door at 6 PM, demanding to change because they’ll have dinner with Hoseok. </p>
<p>“Who the fuck is Hoseok?” </p>
<p>Jooheon gasped “my friend, from London, I talked about him”</p>
<p>“You mentioned you made a friend, you didn’t say a name or something else”</p>
<p>“I did”</p>
<p>“You didn’t”</p>
<p>“Hyunwoo, I did”</p>
<p>“No, you didn´t”</p>
<p>Both agree they were mistaken somehow and kept going with the main issue: going on dinner. </p>
<p>“You should have told me yesterday, I’m not in the mood to go out, Honey”</p>
<p>“Please, please, Woo, he was excited to meet someone new, please, you’ll like him, he likes the gym too” Jooheon was giving him puppy eyes and his hands were clasped together, he was on the verge of saying no but…</p>
<p>“Alright, I’ll go, let me change”</p>
<p>That’s how they ended up here, Jooheon tugging his jacket to take a cab, cause even if the restaurant wasn’t so far he didn’t want to walk. </p>
<p>“He looks intimidating but it’s a soft person, Woo, be kind, he is so cute, you’re gonna love him, he gives that <em>protect me </em>vibes you love”</p>
<p>Hyunwoo scoff at Jooheon’s remark “I don’t”</p>
<p>“Yes, you do, that’s why you are my friend, why you are friends with Hyungwon, because we all are soft, kind-hearted and you want to be our shield, it’s your nature” the younger confesses. Hyunwoo observes his friend with furrow eyes, the actual bright blonde hair on his friend made him seem soft and delicate, <em>maybe he is not wrong </em>Hyunwoo thinks. </p>
<p>Protective, it is an innate attribute of him, a blessing and a curse. Hyunwoo finds himself giving too much to good and wrong people, not judging his own steps nor people’s doing, he enjoys following and getting on the flow until it’s too dangerous or very late to retract from it. He has encountered lots of issues when it comes to being protective, some took advantage of him, some used him as their emotional punch bag, most left. Hyunwoo is never mad at them, never questioned them why they did what they did but deep in his thoughts, he wished he wasn't like this, easily fooled. </p>
<p>They arrive after 20 minutes, Hyunwoo’s thoughts stopped. </p>
<p>“He is waiting for us at the entrance,” says Jooheon checking his phone. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo walks behind him, he enjoys the coolness of the night and the details that appear in front of him, delicate made-wood chairs and tables, lights everywhere making the place warm, he can see pieces of gold on different parts of the restaurant and a big dining area can be seen from the outside, he likes the place. </p>
<p>“Hoseok! Hey!” Hyunwoo whips his head at Jooheon’s voice, he’s face to face with a muscular man, bigger than him, a little bit shorter, with a beautiful smile and black short hair, a tiny nose, pale skin, and a shy aura. He is adorable and attractive. </p>
<p>“Nice to meet you, my name is Lee Hoseok” the man presents himself.<em> Joyful voice.</em></p>
<p>“The pleasure it’s mine, Hoseok, I’m Son Hyunwoo,” both men smile at the moment of bowing.</p>
<p>“I vote to take a table at the terrace, is ok with you?” Jooheon is already eyeing a space near a bush and flowers, not a lot of people are around. It is perfect for them. </p>
<p>“I’ll follow wherever you go” comments Hoseok. He steals a glance of Hyunwoo who is reading the menu on the front and nodding at Jooheon’s suggestion. </p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s fine” </p>
<p>The hostess receives them and walks them to their table, the three men sit and order some drinks to start the night. </p>
<p>“Hoseok’s face was a masterpiece, he had his eyes and mouth wide open, he didn’t move, did nothing-” Jooheon can’t stop laughing and pressing his stomach, Hoseok is sulking because at the moment it was scary. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo is trying to suppress a laugh with his fingers sealing his lips, nonetheless, Hoseok can see it and decides to punch him, <em>it feels like a feather touching your skin </em>Hyunwoo thinks.</p>
<p>“Wait, wait, I least I stayed until they explained, you ran away and we had to look for you for an hour, Joo” the younger stops laughing and glares at Hoseok who is now enjoying the story better. </p>
<p>“I can’t believe you two were scared by some bugs!” Hyunwoo is laughing openly, he can’t believe the big tall men in front of him were scared of small bugs. </p>
<p>“Woo! They were huge, they seemed dangerous” </p>
<p>“They weren’t by the way, the guys were messing with us”</p>
<p>The conversation flowed smoothly, there was no awkward silence or uncomfortable topics. Hoseok and Hyunwoo were bonding pretty fast and that’s how they ended up talking about Hoseok and Jooheon’s trip to Egypt. </p>
<p>“So, you were honey’s friend in London who is a producer” </p>
<p>Hoseok sips his glass of sparkling water “the one and only, I’m also the friend who he is working here too”</p>
<p>“Why did you move back?”</p>
<p>“Hyunwoo!” scolds Jooheon, Hyunwoo looks apologetically at Hoseok but he shook his head.</p>
<p>“No worries, I told Jooheon I don’t usually like to talk about the past and that includes places I used to be” Hyunwoo is regretful, Hoseok watches him bite his bottom lip, he takes a moment before continuing “but I’ll tell you someday in the future, don’t feel bad, Hyunwoo, it’s a normal question anyone would make”</p>
<p>Before the mood goes down, luckily the waiter comes with their food. Soon they start a light conversation again. </p>
<p>It has been an hour since they arrived, they ordered desserts and are waiting for them to be served.</p>
<p>“There is this girl, younger than me, really cute and adorable, she’s new at the company but had lots of experiences, I enjoy talking with her. One day one of our co-workers, we all don’t like him, he is distasteful and arrogant, the thing is he came to this girl, I’m sorry I don’t remember her name right now, I think is Myeng or something like that. He comes to her and starts to brag about his experiences, the places and artists he worked with, and so on” Jooheon and Hyunwoo are showing their disgust, Hoseok sips his glass of water and stops when the waiter lay their desserts in front of them. The three murmur a thank you and the man leaves</p>
<p>“He did the same to me but this girl, guys, she was unbothered making her choreography her boss tasked her to do, while this guy keeps being obnoxious, I tried to step on but she lifts her hand to stop me, she flings her hair and looked at the guy to say -<em>look, I don’t remember asking for your imaginary trajectory and if I’m not mistaken none of those artists worked with you with those singles before you say something else why do you think you mother hired me for this job and not you, her own son? Exactly, because she knows you are a liar who is not competent, so let the professional work, honey, okay? Bye-</em>” Jooheon starts laughing, a glint of amusement in his eyes. Hyunwoo is almost like him, but he has a gentle smile, he is entertained by this girl's words. </p>
<p>“She's been my role model since that day, great co-worker” Hoseok smiles and pokes Jooheon’s dimple when he sees them. </p>
<p>“Seok!” exclaims the younger. Hyunwoo keeps laughing until something makes him stop in his tracks. </p>
<p>He doesn’t know why but there is a magnetic feeling that makes him turn around. The air feels warmer even when the winter hasn’t ended, the lights above him seem dimmer and cozy, some leaves dance around his shoes, the scenery is oddly captivating. It feels like the time stops and he only can hear the taxi ahead of him speeding at the green light, he catches for a moment the glimpse of a pretty nose poking from the window and rosy lips smiling at the city. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kihyun, let me understand if I get this right,” said Minhyuk with his hands on his hips. </p>
<p>“You sent ‘H’ a letter,” Kihyun nodded, his eyes low, evading Minhyuk’s gaze. </p>
<p>“You told him Mrs. Lee doesn’t remember the last tenant because they left months ago, but that you know from other neighbors maybe ‘K’ was a guy in his twenties” Kihyun nodded again and started fidgeting on his chair. Minhyuk deemed his friend’s gestures. </p>
<p>“You sent it on Sunday when you were with Dan” again Kihyun nodded. </p>
<p>“But you didn’t check his social media that they gave you because you were scared” Kihyun whined but didn’t deny it. </p>
<p>“Kihyun are you for real? It’s been almost a week, Ki! A week! Maybe two for them and you don’t want to meet them?” an offended tone is present in Minhyuk’s voice, he couldn’t stop himself from passing in front of Kihyun if someone could see them they would enjoy a scene of a teacher being scolded by another teacher like if he was his student. </p>
<p>“I don’t know, it’s just- I- I wanna. I’m just not ready” </p>
<p>“I’ll do it” challenged Minhyuk, Kihyun straightened his back and looked directly at his friend’s eyes. </p>
<p>“No, you won’t” replied Kihyun, Minhyuk gets closer to Kihyun who was already guarding his backpack. </p>
<p>“Yes, I’ll do, pretty sure you have the letter right now with you in your backpack because you keep looking at it gaining strength to look up for them, then I’ll make things easier” the taller knew there was no way to get the letter by peaceful ways so he gave a step forward to challenge Kihyun. </p>
<p>Kihyun furrowed his brows, seizing his backpack behind him Minhyuk ignited wrestling with him. </p>
<p>“No, Min, let it go, fuck” growled Kihyun with his hand on Minhyuk’s cheek.</p>
<p>“Damn it, only this time, Ki” Minhyuk tickles Kihyun’s sides making him drop the backpack, both of them look at each other and jump to it without thinking. </p>
<p>Someone coughs “Excuse me, gentlemen” the Director, Susie, call them both. Minhyuk and Kihyun look at her, their arms are linked in different poses, there is sweat running down their necks and their faces are red. </p>
<p>“It’s time to welcome the kids, Kihyun you have to be ready for your tour day” she claps and directs the men to follow her. Minhyuk is the first to let go, Kihyun rearranges his clothes and takes his backpack to leave the room. </p>
<p>“This doesn’t end here” Minhyuk mutters. </p>
<p>“Gentlemen, please, later” </p>
<p>Minhyuk shuts his mouth but his expressions are perfectly understandable, </p>
<p>“Good morning, children, we are at WN entertainment, they are a complex and one of the biggest entertainment companies that not only covers music but video games, tv shows, and more. Put the strip with your name badge around your necks, please. Don’t leave the group, if you need something or there is a special situation let us know. Listen to the tour guide, don’t play around, don’t run, don’t scream, respect the place and be attentive” Kihyun gets out of the bus and awaits for every kid to get off too. He counts each one of them and asks his assistant, Niko, to do the roll call. </p>
<p>“Everyone is here” Niko informs while watching the kids bouncing in excitement. </p>
<p>“Great, the tour guide they assigned us will be here in a few minutes”</p>
<p>“My aunt works here!” screams a little boy with brown hair, Kihyun looks at him, Dong-Hyun, one of the chaotic group. </p>
<p>“That’s good, Dong-Hyun, maybe we won’t encounter your aunt but you can tell her later you came” Kihyun pats Dong-Hyun's head and smiles at him, the kid answers the same way but with two lost teeth.<em> Cute.</em> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hyunwoo, do you know this place from bottom to top?” he’s in his boss’s office, they just finished a reunion which Hyunwoo had to attend before 7 AM. </p>
<p>He nods “of course, Mrs. Kim”</p>
<p>“Perfect, look Hyunwoo, you are aware of the Public Relations Department, they usually take these things by themselves and I don’t have to intervene, nonetheless my nephew came with his class and my brother asked me to keep an eye on them, you are the one who is fully aware of our hectic schedule, today is not an exception but at least we are not that packed as other days” Hyunwoo knows, she’s persuading him, leading him to something he won’t be so fond of. </p>
<p>“I want you to tour the children's class, you can bring them here when they finish with important departments and accommodations. Call me beforehand. Thank you so much for doing this they’re waiting for you. It's already 9 AM, you are dismissed” she goes back to her laptop, Hyunwoo is perplexed, he couldn’t even say a word. He stands up and walks out. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo leans his back on Mrs. Kim’s office door and takes a deep breath. He has to cancel the coffee with Hyungwon and Daniel that was planned for 10 AM. </p>
<p>He sends a quick message to Hyungwon informing him about the situation, the younger replies with laughing emojis, so he decides to ignore him. Hyunwoo gets to the Public Relations Department to get the briefs, candies, and all the stuff they prepared for the kids. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo gets in the elevator when he hears someone calling his name.</p>
<p>“Hyunwoo! I’m coming with you, Hyungwon said you may need an assistant and I’m good with kids, also my friend is the teacher who brought the class” Daniel chirps, he is beaming and Hyunwoo is not going to reject such an offer. </p>
<p>“Thank god, Dan, you’re a lifesaver” having someone he knows accompanying him makes him feel at ease, and the fact that the teacher is Daniel’s friend is a relief. </p>
<p>“Oh, I love this song,” says Niko, bobbing his head. </p>
<p>“I don’t recall its name”</p>
<p>
  <em>Welcome to your life</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>There's no turning back</em>
</p>
<p>“How old are the kids?” asks Hyunwoo.</p>
<p>“If I’m not mistaken they’re 5 to 6”</p>
<p>“Good” <em>is not good.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“Everyone wants to rule the world” </em>
</p>
<p>“Right!”</p>
<p>“Kihyun, the song already says it”</p>
<p>“I know”</p>
<p>
  <em>It's my own design</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It's my own remorse</em>
</p>
<p>“Don’t be scare, they’re just kids”</p>
<p>“It’s not it, I don’t want to scare them”</p>
<p>“You won’t”</p>
<p>They arrive at the lobby, walk in, and to the reception area. </p>
<p>
  <em>Nothing ever lasts forever</em>
</p>
<p>“I love this song,” says Daniel “Oh, they are there”</p>
<p>
  <em>Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>When they do, I'll be right behind you</em>
</p>
<p>Kihyun stops watching the kids where Niko calls his attention to look at the men who are walking towards them. </p>
<p>
  <em>So glad we've almost made it</em>
</p>
<p>It feels like the weekend before. Hyunwoo can hear the song in the background, emotions he doesn’t recognize bubbling inside him, he doesn’t recall feeling this in a long time or ever. His heart is getting speed and he doesn’t know why. Moles like stars on the stranger’s face, they lead him home somehow, home? It’s a familiar feeling, coming back, but at the same time an unexplored place. He wants to dive into this moment forever. </p>
<p>Kihyun is in awe, counting the stranger’s steps, sun-kissed skin beams under the light and Kihyun wants to explore each part of him. It’s comforting, a calm vibe. He feels at the shore with the waves hitting his toes and the sand sneaking through them, he feels terrified, he knows this, it’s different, it is, but that doesn’t make it less scary.</p>
<p>“Good morning, my name is Son Hyunwoo and this is Im Daniel, we are the tour guides, welcome to WN entertainment” <em>deep honey voice. Hyunwoo. </em></p>
<p>“Good morning, Mr. Son, my name is Yoo Kihyun the teacher leader of the class and he is Arai Niko the assistant class” <em>lace soft welcome</em>. <em>Kihyun.</em></p>
<p>And their eyes connect to each other.</p>
<p>
  <em>Nothing ever lasts forever</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Everybody wants to rule the world.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello! OMG!!!! I'm excited about this chapter!!! What do you think? Kihyun and Hyunwoo finally met each other... Yes! Did you like this chapter? I gave more clues, did you get them? Share your thoughts if you want. Thank you for reading and for each comment and kudo.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Nice to meet you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kihyun and Hyunwoo finally meet. They talk, they're ready.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“This is our entertainment hall for visitors, you can eat and play a little, we’re going up with the CEO later” Hyunwoo informs, the kids start running around excited for the games, snacks, and stuff that were placed by the company’s staff.</p>
<p>“Kids, don’t run, don’t leave without my permission!” Kihyun is late with the warnings because everyone is scattered, he sighs.</p>
<p>“I’ll go for coffee, do you want something, Kihyun?” asks Niko beside the teacher, Kihyun shakes his head and smiles. </p>
<p>“Go for it, we need to recharge” Niko laughs and walks to the counter with a coffee machine. </p>
<p>Daniel left a few minutes ago, Hyungwon called him to help him organize a reunion for next week. It is just Hyunwoo and Kihyun now, watching over the kids with their arms folded and fond glances.</p>
<p>Hyunwoo feels his fingers itching with anticipation, he wants to talk to Kihyun, that fairy-look man beside him, but he is nervous. He is cursing at his shy personality in his head until Kihyun interrupts. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry if they tiring, they are excited, animated by the whole company, even before we arrived they were bouncing and running around the classroom” he comments, a shy smile on his face, Kihyun can feel his heartbeat echoing in his ribcage, he starts to look around waiting for Hyunwoo’s reply. </p>
<p>“No worries, I understand, they’re children, it’s normal. The one who should be apologizing is me, I’m awkward with kids, actually, I wasn’t the one who was going to tour you but my boss, the CEO, asked me to because her nephew is in this class” Hyunwoo looks at Kihyun, his velvet voice and stoic face hiding his jitters. </p>
<p>“Oh, no, no, you were great with them, if I’m being honest” Kihyun admits, he realized Hyunwoo wasn’t an expert with children but what else can you expect from an employee of a big company like WN. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo chuckles. </p>
<p>“However, if I’m being indiscreet, can I know, what do you do?” </p>
<p>“I’m the CEO’s secretary” </p>
<p>Kihyun is bewildered.</p>
<p>“It’s usually like this here, I do some kind of weird things as the secretary, I got used to it” says Hyunwoo lightly, Kihyun hums, he takes his hand to his lips to start playing with them, he is thinking about how would be to work with someone like Hyunwoo. Having to see his beautiful face every morning instead of Minhyuk’s mischievous grin, having to listen to Hyunwoo’s voice at the beginning and end of the day instead of his best friend’s yelling… What a great scenario. </p>
<p>“But doesn't your boss have any problem with her schedule or something?”</p>
<p>“Not at all, I left everything ready, also today we’re not that busy” </p>
<p>There is a silence, Niko is with the children playing, he decided to stay with them when he saw Kihyun and Hyunwoo talking, he knew what those eyes were saying so he was not going to interrupt the moment. </p>
<p>“That’s good” Hyunwoo nods, would it be wrong if he asks Kihyun to see each other out of the company? Would it be an eager and desperate move? What if Kihyun is not even into men and makes him uncomfortable?</p>
<p>“I like men” Kihyun mumbles. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo wides his eyes, Kihyun’s cheeks are rosy and he’s looking at his shoes, Hyunwoo shakes his head, and before he says anything the younger man speaks again. </p>
<p>“You murmured if I like men and I answered,” he says sheepishly. </p>
<p>“20 minutes already, children, pack it up, last stop and we go back!” Niko orders, the children start whining and Kihyun along with Hyunwoo get out of their moment. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo clears his throat “good, me too” he replies and walks away to wait near the door for the class to follow him. </p>
<p>“Let’s go, we’re going to meet the CEO” there are euphoric screams and bouncing from the kids. Hyunwoo texts his boss informing her about the visit. </p>
<p>They arrive shortly after, the CEO shares some thoughts, explains how things work, plays a little with the children, and even lets them sit on her chair. </p>
<p>“I hope you enjoyed the visit, I wish you a safe come back to your school” she recites, there are claps and smiling faces, his boss seems happy which means Hyunwoo will be available to relax the rest of the morning. </p>
<p>“Please, Hyunwoo, stay, the head of Public Relations will take care of them” or not. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo nods, he watches as the children leave the office, his gaze lingering on Kihyun who decides to avoid the stare, he hurry the kids out while Niko is snickering at his friend, knowing well Kihyun is having a panic gay moment, he has to tell Minhyuk. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“MINHYUK, MINHYUK! For fuck sake if you don’t answer I will behead you with a guillotine and welcome back to the old times” at some point, this kind of bickering became normal for Kihyun and Minhyuk. At the moment Kihyun heard Minhyuk pick up the call he started to scream. </p>
<p>“You know I've been listening to you since the first Minhyuk? You asshole” Minhyuk retorts. </p>
<p>It is obvious Kihyun is going through a big crisis at the moment, he can’t stop staring at his phone, he even opens the app on his laptop to keep looking at the profile he found. </p>
<p>“Shut up, I don’t have time for this, Minhyuk, listen to me, shut your mouth for a damn second”</p>
<p>“Uh, feisty, go ahead tiny ass, hit me up with your news,” says Minhyuk in a mocking tone.</p>
<p>“I will hit you with my fist” nonetheless Kihyun is not having any of it. </p>
<p>“Yoo Kihyun, fuck off and tell me” growls Minhyuk, Kihyun takes a deep breath before his friend can hear him screeching. </p>
<p>“Okay, okay do you remember -H- send me in his letter his Instagram username?” he asks, he is literally biting his nails. </p>
<p>“Uh? No? Obviously no, Kihyun, I don’t remember telling you to let me check it for the whole week because you were a coward, no, don’t know what are you talking about'' the sarcastic remark and his annoying laugh rumble in Kihyun’s ears, he takes a screenshot of the profile and sends it to Minhyuk. </p>
<p>“Fuck you and see what I sent”</p>
<p>“Ew no, I have Wonnie for that, and Kihyun if you sent me a nude, Hyungwon is going…”</p>
<p>“Minhyuk, can you please be quiet and see what I sent?”</p>
<p>There is silence, which is weird until Kihyun hears Minhyuk squealing. </p>
<p>“Told you”</p>
<p>“He is smoking handsome, Yoo Kihyun, H, is hot as hell”</p>
<p>“Yeah I know but that’s not the thing”</p>
<p>“What do you mean? You have been exchanging letters with a whole ass snack and you’re not interested in him now that you saw him”</p>
<p>“Min, shut up, he is the guy who gave us a tour today”</p>
<p>No words. A squawk and then Minhyuk is screaming.</p>
<p>“Yoo Kihyun, damn, go get your man, you know where he works, where he lives, how he looks, how his voice sounds, boy, go and marry him”</p>
<p>“Hold your horses, Minhyuk”</p>
<p>“Don’t dare to say that when you were the one who was over the moon the whole day”</p>
<p>Kihyun blushes, he rubs his face with his hands. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I know, it’s just weird, really weird, don’t you think?”</p>
<p>“Honey, coincidences exist, I am a passionate believer of what has to be, will be and you were meant to met, I don’t know if it is for love, for help these people who sent the letters, to be friends, I don’t have an idea, however, enjoy it, as a friend, as a stranger, as a partner in this, it’s okay”</p>
<p>“Don’t start getting cheesy”</p>
<p>“I’m giving you love and you pay me like this, I hate you”</p>
<p>“Yeah, whatever, what do I do?”</p>
<p>“Are you for real? Send a DM, like all his photos, comment on his posts, check his stories”</p>
<p>“I know you’re joking”</p>
<p>“I’m half-joking, send him a hi, or I’ll do”</p>
<p>“Okay, got it, but what if I send a letter too?”</p>
<p>“You’re being complicated, Ki” Minhyuk can imagine his friend making this bigger than it is, creating a whole situation to fit his ideas. </p>
<p>“No, no, listen to me, I like sending him letters, no one sends letters these years and I want to, I still send him a text and maybe ask for his number”</p>
<p>“I approve, go and message him”</p>
<p>5 minutes later and Minhyuk is screaming again. </p>
<p>“OH, GOD, KIHYUN, TEXT HIM, YOU ASS OR I’LL GONNA DO IT MYSELF AND I’M GONNA EMBARRASS THE HELL OUT, OF YOU, DON’T TEST ME!”</p>
<p>“Damn it, keep it down, I’m taking my time” Kihyun is stuttering, and that only means one thing: he’s nervous. </p>
<p>“Ki, come on, I’m tempted to send him that picture of yours from our trip to Tokyo” his friend threatens. Kihyun is biting his lip anxiously, his phone is on speaker already, the screen on Hyunwoo’s profile and he already opened the DM, he just needs to send a message. </p>
<p>
  <em>Hi</em>
</p>
<p>He sent it, without more thinking, now he has to wait. </p>
<p>
  <em>Hello?</em>
</p>
<p>Kihyun yelps and throws his phone out of his hands. </p>
<p>“Kihyun? Yoo Kihyun, what the hell happened?” Minhyuk keeps talking but he sounds distant, Kihyun limits himself to observe his phone on the floor in front of the TV, which is turn off and he can see his scared reflection on it. </p>
<p>“Ki, Yoo, Kiki do you love me?”</p>
<p>“What the fuck do you want?”</p>
<p>“Finally, so?”</p>
<p>He can’t bring himself to speak, from excitement to fear to panic, a mix of intense emotions. He needs a drink. </p>
<p>“I need a drink”</p>
<p>“No, no, no, stay here and tell papa Minhyuk”</p>
<p>“Stop referring to you as my dad, it’s weird, cause we slept together, disgusting” the younger makes a face.</p>
<p>“Wasn’t it disgusting when you were moan-”</p>
<p>“Shut it, Hyunwoo replied '' Kihyun says, he goes to open Hyunwoo’s conversation again while his friend is squealing.</p>
<p>“What did he say?”</p>
<p>“Hello”</p>
<p>“What lame greeting did you give?”</p>
<p>“Hi”</p>
<p>“You’re soulmates” Minhyuk chirps. </p>
<p>“Fuck off”</p>
<p>“Reply, asshole, now”</p>
<p>“What do I say?”</p>
<p>“You already ruined with the -Hi-, keep going”</p>
<p>Kihyun sighs, he starts to type but deletes instantly, he tries to seem cool and gentle, however, he is failing. </p>
<p>“Explain him the situation, coz he’s gonna think you stalk him since the morning meeting”</p>
<p>“The smartest thing you’ve ever thought”</p>
<p>“Gonna revoke your best friend credential”</p>
<p>“Try me, bitch”</p>
<p>
  <em>Good night, Hyunwoo, I know this seems weird since we met this morning but I’m not dming you for that, I’m “KY”, the person you’ve been sending letters to the last weeks, you shared with me your username in your last letter so here I am.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Send.</strong>
</p>
<p>Hyunwoo was chilling at his apartment after having lunch with Jooheon and Hoseok. They talked and roamed around the city because Hoseok missed going around Seoul so they decided to entertain themselves with street snacks and karaoke. Hyunwoo got closer with Hoseok after finding out they were really into delicious food and bothering Jooheon. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo thought he was going to have an undisturbed night, maybe enjoy a movie and order food. That was the plan until he received a message on Instagram from a @yookihhh, it was a simple “hi”.</p>
<p>When he checked the profile he realized it was the teacher from today’s class he tours around the company, immediately a smile appeared on his face, he typed a “hello” and waited for a reply but it didn’t come as fast as he expected, even when he could see Kihyun was online and that he has seen his message. </p>
<p>“Joo”</p>
<p>“I’m scared” is the first thing Jooheon says after picking Hyunwoo’s call. </p>
<p>“I won’t do anything”</p>
<p>“Don’t believe you, Woo, but go ahead”</p>
<p>“The guy I told you about today, messaged me on Instagram”</p>
<p>“Oh, Woo, that’s good, isn’t it? What is the problem?”</p>
<p>“He left me on seen”</p>
<p>“Apparently he doesn’t like you enough”</p>
<p>“Did I tell you, you’re my best friend? Because I take it down” </p>
<p>Hyunwoo can hear Jooheon is whining. </p>
<p>“Don’t you dare. Sorry. What did he say and what did you reply?” asks Jooheon, Hyunwoo sighs and puts on speaker his phone, he checks his conversation with Kihyun hoping he sends something.</p>
<p>“He said -hi-, I said -hello- with a question mark at the end” </p>
<p>The younger hums. </p>
<p>“Maybe he’s timid, Woo, he didn’t expect you to reply this fast or a reply at all, give him time, okay?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, I will, thanks, Honey”</p>
<p>“No problem, Woo”</p>
<p>Hyunwoo waits patiently, he turns off the TV, he is just watching his phone anyways.</p>
<p>“I need water” he murmurs, he stands up and goes for a glass of water. He is drinking it when he hears his phone ding, he runs to his phone to find Kihyun’s reply. </p>
<p>A lot is happening inside his head when he reads it. Kihyun is the gorgeous teacher he met today, also he is KY, the stranger he sent letters to for weeks, Kihyun is his kinda crush at the moment and his partner to find whoever were the tenants before them. He needs to process the new information. </p>
<p>
  <em>Wow, that’s cool? I mean, yeah it is great, it’s just, I’m shocked how we just met today face to face when we talked before through letters, feels weird, not bad weird, just strange, I thought KY, or you, wouldn’t dm me, this a pleasant surprise. </em>
</p>
<p>He is rambling, he knows it but he doesn’t care at this point, he is excited. </p>
<p>Kihyun is typing a reply, he feels comfortable somehow with Hyunwoo’s response, at least he’s not the only one being jittery. </p>
<p>
  <em>Got it, I’m feeling the same, no worries, I was thinking, we already talked and saw each other, I think it would be better if we meet in person again to talk about this.</em>
</p>
<p>Kihyun is biting his nail, he shouldn’t do that. But it’s Hyunwoo and it feels like he’s asking the older for a date, something Kihyun would love to have, which doesn’t mean Hyunwoo would enjoy it.</p>
<p>
  <em>Yes. Of course, I’d love to, I mean for our hidden/lost letter lovers. </em>
</p>
<p>Hyunwoo is pacing his living room, his phone between his fingers and his hair is disheveled every time he touches it with his hands. </p>
<p>
  <em>Yeah, okay, Friday at 7 PM, s’okay? At this coffee shop in front of your work. </em>
</p>
<p>“Yoo Kihyun you’re dumb” he whispers, Kihyun slaps his forehead after sending the message, <em>asking Hyunwoo to hang out near his job on Friday night. </em></p>
<p>
  <em>I’ll see you there, Kihyun. Goodnight. </em>
</p>
<p>Hyunwoo can’t help but smile, he giggles before running out of his apartment half-naked to knock at Jooheon’s apartment. </p>
<p>
  <em>Night, Hyunwoo. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello again!!! OMG, I'm sorry it took me more time to update, but here it is! It might be boring but it is necessary, there are going to be more entertaining things next chapters. Kihyun and Hyunwoo were really adorable in this one. So, what do you think?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A WORLD ALONE</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Surprise!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Don't hate me.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kihyun was restless thinking about his date-not-date with Hyunwoo, he took the letters the other sent, a notebook where he wrote everything he could gather in the week for the “case”, he put everything in a bag and left his apartment locking it. </p><p>He was walking to the coffee shop, revising in his mind what he would say, how he would approach the topic, what he would do. </p><p>The streets were crowded, but Kihyun didn’t mind this time, he was busy thinking, checking everything in his mind back and forth. He was going to meet with Hyunwoo… or so he thought. </p><p>You know, sometimes things are not what we want at the moment, things change faster than we can perceive and Kihyun was going to experience it first-hand. </p><p>He was crossing the street, he swore the light was green for the pedestrians, he was right, but a car wasn’t in a hurry or at least the driver said that he was at a normal speed while being drunk… He didn’t stop and Kihyun didn’t either. </p><p>There is an impact. </p><p>And then nothing. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Happy April’s fools! Don’t worry, that was an alternative universe, keep reading the real thing now. </em>
</p><p>Kihyun was restless thinking about his date-not-date with Hyunwoo, he took the letters the other sent, a notebook where he wrote everything he could gather in the week for the “case”, he put everything in a bag and left his apartment locking it. </p><p>He was walking to the coffee shop, revising in his mind what he will say, how he would approach the topic, what he would do and say. </p><p>The streets were crowded, but Kihyun didn’t mind this time, he was busy thinking, checking everything in his mind back and forth. He was going to meet with Hyunwoo out of work, in casual clothes… <em>Damn, how handsome can Hyunwoo get without the suit?</em> He thought.</p><p>On the other side, Hyunwoo is already waiting for Kihyun, he’s constantly checking the time, looking outside expecting Kihyun to pop out of nowhere, he is excited. Jooheon had to slap him once to make him stop bouncing and rambling around, Hyunwoo pushed him in return. Hyunwoo is seated close to the window, he hasn't ordered anything, he didn’t want to do it until Kihyun arrives. He took the main stuff, notes he made about the situation, the letters he got first and the letters Kihyun sent to him. </p><p>There is a moment when he glances at his hand and in quo, Kihyun enters the place looking around until his eyes perceive Hyunwoo. </p><p>“Okay, hi” greets Kihyun with a bow.</p><p>Hyunwoo is in awe when Kihyun walks to him, a simple gray hoodie and black jeans, maybe Hyunwoo is just infatuated but Kihyun looks gorgeous to him. </p><p>“Oh, hey, take a seat, do you want to order something? I was waiting for you to do that but it’s okay if you don’t want to and want to change the location, what do…”</p><p>“It’s okay here, Hyunwoo, I will check the menu” Kihyun interrupts him, watching how difficult it was for Hyunwoo to stop himself from rambling. <em>Cute</em>, he thought. </p><p>Hyunwoo curses at himself in a whisper, he’s really nervous, agitated by the whole situation, he usually doesn’t like to meet people by himself, it was okay if it was through other people like Hoseok from Jooheon or Daniel at work from Hyungwon. But this, this is out of his usual self. </p><p>The waiter walks to them to take their order. Minutes later, two coffees and a chocolate muffin are placed in the middle of the table. </p><p>“Enjoy,” says the waiter before walking away. </p><p>“I found some things during the week, I didn’t write them to you because I was waiting to meet you” confesses Kihyun with a blush on his cheeks. Hyunwoo doesn’t miss it and smiles at him, he nods giving the sign to Kihyun to continue. </p><p>“The landlady doesn’t remember who was before me, but I asked my neighbors, some of them didn’t have a clue about the last tenant, others told me there was a guy with the same age as me, they never talked to him because most of the time he was busy and he only arrived at dawn or midnight, not in between, a girl told me he was a handsome young man, charming and gentle, he was really quiet, with black hair and big built, he was attractive according to her” Kihyun takes a moment to sip his coffee, Hyunwoo takes a bite of his muffin and keeps listening to Kihyun. </p><p>“But no one knows his name, when I checked my mail there was a recipient called -Lee Hoseok-, but his name starts with an H, I don’t think he is K, I was thinking my neighbors just remember this Lee Hoseok, but there is a big possibility it’s not K, maybe it was someone before him, I asked my neighbors about someone before this guy but most of them are kinda new and didn’t know the tenant before Lee Hoseok, so I ended up in a dead-end” he finishes, Hyunwoo is nodding, processing the information, he cleans his hand with a napkin before taking the letters out of his jacket pocket, he lays down the papers.</p><p>“Lee Hoseok is a common name, I even have a friend with that name, it’s gonna be difficult to find this man and ask him if he knows something. read the letters -K- sent me” he gestures to Kihyun to read them, the younger observes the paper and takes one. </p><p>“There are pretty personal, lots of emotions and feelings, lots of stories in those letters, that was the reason I sent a letter to your address, I wanted to help somehow if I could. You know, maybe, maybe this Lee Hoseok is -K- because I got this letter a few weeks ago, I moved there not a lot before and you told me you moved too some weeks ago, that means -K- was maybe moving out and he had those letter they wanted to deliver before leaving the place” Hyunwoo watches as Kihyun emotions go through his eyes, he chuckles. </p><p>“But why don’t they throw them or burn them?” Kihyun asks, reading a second letter. </p><p>“I think it was some kind of closure”</p><p>“Can’t relate” the younger murmurs, Hyunwoo tilts his head before speaking again. </p><p>“Same” </p><p>Kihyun smiles at him, he is too immersed in the letter to answer, he can see K was a little bit desperate, he vents at N, talked about his dream to write songs for N, they talked about the music they recommend each other, K wrote about normal stuff and Kihyun realized K said something that apparently upset N or makes him angry, sad maybe? </p><p>“There are some things I have to point out, first, the letter that looks new, K talks about it has been 10 years since he sent a letter to N. The first letters were childish, youthful, but the last one were they let go makes me think there are more mature right now, they’re adults, both of them”</p><p>“Well, yeah, I realized that but-”</p><p>“Wait, I haven’t finished. They’re working now, having their lives, leaving these things behind, are you sure you want to mend between them? Perhaps they don’t care anymore, they want desperately to move on and here we are trying to bring back what they want to be dead” Kihyun seems exalted, Hyunwoo didn’t expect that reaction, nonetheless, he sighs and talks calmly to Kihyun. </p><p>“I thought about it too, believe me, I thought what the hell would I try to contact these people when time has passed them? But then I put myself in their shoes, at least in K’s, they really want these letters to reach the person one last time, I know it could hurt N too, maybe N doesn’t want to do anything with this, perhaps they have a valid reason to ghost this K, but there is something, yeah, I could be wrong, there is a thing telling me behind my mind to keep going with this, to a least let know N, about this and if they decide to not read them, that’s okay, at least my mind will be at ease” Kihyun is troubled, torn between doing this and find these people or just let it and concentrate to know more about the man in front of him. Hyunwoo is being honest, he can tell, telling Kihyun he isn’t even sure about finding N and K, he just wants to go with the flow, with what his heart or whatever is telling him. </p><p>“Fine, we can try, but there is a limit, if we get into trouble or it’s too much, we quit, deal?” Kihyun extends his hand, Hyunwoo looks at it, they seal the deal with a shake of hands. </p><p>“So, our first suspect is Lee Hoseok,” says Kihyun. Hyunwoo hums. </p><p>“Yeah, but there is the guy who was before me, well he was the son of the tenants, no one actually talked to him because he was rarely there, I think N it’s the guy, his father, I think, was a Jihoon” adds the older. </p><p>“Did you look upon the internet?” Hyunwoo shakes his head. </p><p>Kihyun chuckles, he takes his phone out, connects it to the wi-fi of the cafe, and types the name.</p><p>“Can you tell me the name of your building?” the younger asks. </p><p>“Sunset block” </p><p>Kihyun stops for a moment. </p><p>“Oh, I went there to rent an apartment, I didn’t realize with your address until now”</p><p>“Really? A few weeks ago I heard Mr. Yoon talking to a new possible tenant, maybe it was you?”</p><p>“Yeah, Mr. Yoon, I went there but didn’t like it, thin walls and busy streets near me, oh. Mr. Yoon called someone -Son- maybe you know them?”</p><p>“He calls me Son, my last name”</p><p>Kihyun slaps his mouth, he is open-mouthed. </p><p>“Are you telling me we could have met weeks ago? That we were so close but didn’t meet until now? What the hell? That’s fucking weird” he admits, Hyunwoo is astonished too, he blinks rapidly. </p><p>“It is… looks like someone planned this”</p><p>“Pretty much, damn, I’m getting goosebumps” Kihyun embraces himself and shakes his head, he glances at his phone and remembers what he was doing before the revelation. </p><p>Kihyun types again, it takes a few seconds for the page to load, he widens his eyes, there are actually articles about a Jihoon from the Sunset block.</p><p>“Hyunwoo, buckle up” </p><p>Hyunwoo is biting his muffin when Kihyun talks again, </p><p> “There was a Jihoon in your apartment block, the media censored his last name but they talk about him being a violent and dangerous person, he was being accused of killing a police officer 15 years ago, but he died a few weeks before being sentenced, this was last year” </p><p>“Do you think it was this Jihoon?”</p><p>“Unless there is someone else in your block with the same name then yes, the article says he was arrested in Gwangju, he was no longer living in your apartment”</p><p>“Can you imagine that if the news said that? What else could he do to his son and wife?” Kihyun nods, he opens another link to read the same thing all over again, he closes the app and locks his phone. </p><p>“Yes, maybe this is why K kept asking in his letters if N was okay, they knew about N’s father”</p><p>“Yeah, my neighbor told me something like that about the wife. Perhaps, I know the reason behind Mr. Yoon being secretive about this whole thing, could be he knew but didn’t want me to leave the place after I find the truth”</p><p>“A possibility, you should ask him again with this proof, I’ll try to talk again with the landlady”</p><p>“Cool”</p><p>“Do you need something else, gentlemen?” the waiter interrupts, Hyunwoo nods and orders a sandwich and another coffee, Kihyun orders the same. </p><p>“Hey, I have a question,” Kihyun voices. </p><p>“Ask” the coffee arrives and both thanks to the waiter. </p><p>“Is Daniel okay working there?” Hyunwoo blinks, then frowns. </p><p>“Absolutely, I mean, I don’t work directly with him because he is with Hyungwon’s team, but when I see him he’s chill and collected, he smiles and sometimes jokes about my suffering as a secretary, he’s a great guy, why do you ask?”</p><p>Kihyun fidgets in his seat, he studies his nails, <em>he needs to trim them </em>he decides<em>.</em></p><p>“Just checking out, he had problems with his other jobs and on occasions, he is not comfortable with the place but won’t say anything”</p><p>“Wonnie is pretty good with him, I can assure you that”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s okay, I mean I can’t be sure about Hyungwon even when he is my best friend’s boyfriend” </p><p>Hyunwoo widens his eyes “wait, wait, hold on” </p><p>Kihyun furrows his brows at Hyunwoo's response “what?” the mutters. </p><p>“Are you Minhyuk’s friend?” </p><p>“Of course”</p><p>“You are the one who they invite to dinner with the promise that Hyungwon’s friend would arrive but he didn’t?” </p><p>Kihyun is in the middle of nodding when the realization falls. He points at Hyunwoo before chiding. </p><p>“You are that friend who made me third wheel those two for hours!”</p><p>Hyunwoo flinches. </p><p>“Okay, I’m sorry for that time, I left my apartment early but the traffic was a mess and then I bump into someone and-”</p><p>“You were that jerk too!” he scolds, a stern look is on Hyunwoo until he realizes. </p><p>“Oh my god, don’t tell me you were that guy too”</p><p>“I was that guy, my phone almost broke, idiot”</p><p>“I’m so sorry for that too, I was late to see you and wanted to saved time” </p><p>“It’s fine”</p><p>They stare at each other for 5 seconds, then they burst into laughter.</p><p>“How the fuck we almost met several times but we didn’t catch each other?” the older points out. Kihyun has a few tears from laughing, he shakes his head, Hyunwoo bends forward and wipes Kihyun’s tears with his thumb. The younger one stops laughing, he is wonderstruck by Hyunwoo. </p><p>“Maybe we were not ready yet”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Something, someone, didn’t think we were in the right place to meet”</p><p>“And your work was?”</p><p>“It’s not about the physical place, I think, maybe we weren’t in the right state of mind”</p><p>“Gonna give this to you”</p><p>They left the coffee shop 2 hours but none of them wanted to go back so they decided to stroll around, just talking, brushing their hands from time to time. </p><p>“Actually, Minhyuk and Daniel don’t talk to each other, they kinda hate each other? I don’t know, they are my best friends but don’t get along, I wish they did” admits Kihyun, it is easy to talk about several things with Hyunwoo, like if there were no walls to break or judgments against him, he knows Hyunwoo won’t tease him or judge him in any way. </p><p>“What did they say when you asked?”</p><p>“Daniel said that he didn’t care about Minhyuk, that was all, he didn’t hate him, he just didn't vibe with Min, those were his words. Minhyuk said he used to talk with Dan but he didn’t know where everything went down, he doesn’t hate Dan neither thinks they don’t vibe with each other, he just respects Dan’s boundaries so I do” </p><p>“Understandable, I could try…”</p><p>“No, don’t bother, when they are ready they will tell me or at least Dan, that boy has a lot of secrets and it’s okay” Kihyun plunges his hand into his hoodie pockets with swaying steps. </p><p>“You are a good friend,” Hyunwoo confesses. </p><p>Kihyun chuckles “no, I’m not”</p><p>“You are, not a lot of friends would be that understanding and sympathetic”</p><p>“I made mistakes”</p><p>“Everyone makes them, the difference is what you do about them”</p><p>“Smartass”</p><p>“That’s what they say”</p><p>“We are here” Kihyun utters when they arrive at his apartment building. </p><p>“Finally I know the place I sent my letters, sweet”</p><p>They laugh. </p><p>“Welcome to my boring building”</p><p>“Mine is a boring as yours”</p><p>“Debatable, I didn’t stay for a reason”</p><p>They are smiling at each other, looking at their eyes, there is a glint in their glances, a pull to get closer. Just when Hyunwoo thinks to give a damn and just kiss Kihyun’s cheeks there are voices that interrupt their moment.</p><p>“I will come tomorrow, mom” they hear. </p><p>“Okay, dear, take care”</p><p>“You too, mom”</p><p>They are on the path of the entrance so they can see who is leaving the place. A tall, muscular guy with a gentle smile. </p><p>“Hoseok?”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HEY! OKAY, I'M SORRY, but what did you think about today's chapter? I was really excited writing their encounter finally! I revealed lots of things in this chapter and Shownu and Kihyun realized lots of things too. But tell me, tell me your thoughts, theories, whatever you wanna share.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Shitty allegories & advices</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Shownu and Kihyun are getting there. <br/>Hoseok is a mystery.<br/>Daniel doesn't want to be a mystery anymore. <br/>And in the middle are they trying to advise each other plus Minhyuk.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hoseok stops in his tracks when he sees Hyunwoo with a guy beside him “hey” he greets, he tilts his head and looks back to check if his mother is at the door but she’s not, he goes back to the two men in front of him and smiles at them. </p>
<p>“Good night, Hyunwoo and…”</p>
<p>“Kihyun” presents himself, both bow and Hyunwoo decide to speak. Kihyun doesn’t add anything but Hoseok looks familiar to him, he is sure he saw the man somewhere else. </p>
<p>“Good night, Hoseok, what are you doing here?” Hyunwoo scratches his nape, <em>maybe it’s not time to kiss Kihyun’s cheek. </em></p>
<p>“My mom lives here. What about you?” Hoseok answers, now he has a playful smirk, Hyunwoo and Kihyun's shy faces speak for themselves. </p>
<p>“He lives here” Hyunwoo answers and his mouth goes in a line automatically. </p>
<p>“We are friends” Kihyuns adds, the older one winces, and Hoseok chuckles, he is entertained by the couple. </p>
<p>“Okay, I have to go, it’s getting late, you want a ride to your apartment, Woo?” Hoseok offers, jiggling his keys in his hand and walking to his car. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo hesitates, he looks at Kihyun who is fidgeting with his fingers. </p>
<p>“You should go, I’m already at home” suggests the younger. </p>
<p>Even when none of them want to end the night abruptly, neither know what to do next so they have to call it a day. </p>
<p>“I think so, I’ll text you, later, Ki- Can I call you Ki?” </p>
<p>Kihyun nods, he chuckles “go” he murmurs. </p>
<p>The tan man smiles and walks to Hoseok who is watching them, <em>they look like teenagers on their first date</em>, he thinks. </p>
<p>It’s warm, Hoseok turns on the heater and Hyunwoo is glad about it. He didn’t realize how much he was freezing when he was with Kihyun but now he can’t stop rubbing his hands against his arms. </p>
<p>“So… he’s just a friend?” there is a playful tone in Hoseok's voice that Hyunwoo tries to ignore. </p>
<p>“Yeah, we met at work '' there is something telling Hyunwoo to not reveal anything about the letters, at least not yet, he does not want to bother another person with the topic besides he needs to know Hoseok better. </p>
<p>“Oh, does he work there?” Hoseok keeps looking at the road, glimpsing at Hyunwoo for moments before concentrating again on driving. </p>
<p>Hyunwoo sighs “no, he is a teacher for kids and his class came on Wednesday to have a tour in the company” he glances at the city through the window “take the main road then right, then left,” he says. </p>
<p>He can hear Hoseok chuckle “I couldn’t pretend anymore where you live”</p>
<p>“Jooheon didn’t tell you?” Hyunwoo stares at his friend. </p>
<p>“No, he always takes a taxi or the sub”</p>
<p>“I told him to buy a car”</p>
<p>“He doesn’t want anything to tie him down, a car would do that”</p>
<p>Hyunwoo nods, not so sure Hoseok perceives it. </p>
<p>“What’s the name of your apartment block? Maybe I know it, I’m kinda familiarized with the zone”</p>
<p>“Ivy Garden, the owner’s wife loves flowers” he chuckles. </p>
<p>Hoseok just gives a tight smile before whispering “I was there”.</p>
<p>Hyunwoo is not sure if he is supposed to hear it, therefore he ignores it and looks outside, enjoying his friend’s playlist and dim lights from the buildings. </p>
<p>After 20 minutes they arrive, Hyunwoo still wrapped in his own thoughts. </p>
<p>“We are here” informs Hoseok. Hyunwoo shakes his head, he tightens his grip on his things. </p>
<p>“Do you wanna come in? We can call Jooheon” he suggests. </p>
<p>“No, it’s okay,” says the younger, there is a soft smile on his face, he seems nostalgic watching Hyunwoo.</p>
<p>“Is there something you want to talk about?” Hyunwoo widens his eyes expectantly waiting for Hoseok to answer. </p>
<p>There is a sigh, then a pat on his back. </p>
<p>“Go, Hyunwoo, it’s getting late, we’ll talk later, greet Honey from me” </p>
<p>Reluctantly Hyunwoo opens the door and gets out of the car. </p>
<p>“Let’s have dinner next weekend” yells Hoseok when Hyunwoo is almost inside, he smiles and nods eagerly, giving thumbs up, Hoseok waves his hand and leaves. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why am I here?” he muttered, he was annoyed, with folded arms, mask on, and thick glasses. </p>
<p>Minhyuk caressed his cup of tea, the heat trespassing to his skin, warming it, he bit his lip and played with his ring on his index finger “we need to talk about Kihyun” he replied. </p>
<p>He arcs an eyebrow “we” he points to Minhyuk then to himself “we don’t need to talk about anything, Kihyun is perfectly fine” he scolded. </p>
<p>Minhyuk pressed his lips, he wanted to cry but needed to be strong for once “I know he is, a stupid break-up would never hurt him, but we are”. </p>
<p>The guy in front of him looked up finally to catch Minhyuk’s sad glance “excuse me?”</p>
<p>“Dan, I don’t have any idea what I did, yet I want to fix this, fix whatever happened between us” </p>
<p>“You know what you did”</p>
<p>“No, I don’t” Minhyuk assured, his hands were trembling so he held his cup “we both took that decision, why am I feeling it was my fault?”</p>
<p>“It was”</p>
<p>Minhyuk scoffed “it wasn’t, Daniel, it was mutual, you said you didn’t feel the same, I said it was okay because none of us wanted to tie the other” </p>
<p>“And what if I said that? I could be lying, maybe I loved you too much to decide for both of us” even when Daniel was convincing for everyone else saying that those who know him well are aware of him touching his neck to slightly caressing it, indicating he is lying. </p>
<p>“What was it, Dan?” Minhyuk asked again, this time more careful, he extended his hand to Daniel, to show him he is not hiding anything. </p>
<p>Daniel kept his guard up, fighting against the hurricane inside him begging to be released. Imagine living in the middle of storms constantly, destroying yourself and people you love, ‘cause when there is a glimpse of light it destroys everything due to being captivated for a long time. </p>
<p>“Fucking nothing, Minhyuk” the chair scraped when he stood up abruptly, Minhyuk closed his eyes for a second, Daniel is already outside the cafe. </p>
<p>He sends a text to Daniel’s girlfriend asking her to not deal with Daniel now because he will do it. </p>
<p>
  <em>It’s time to change some things.</em>
</p>
<p>Minhyuk waits 2 seconds before getting up and running behind Daniel. </p>
<p>He doesn’t talk, just follows behind the younger. </p>
<p>Daniel knew Minhyuk was following him nonetheless he didn’t want to confront him. </p>
<p>After walking 3 blocks, Daniel stops and turns back. </p>
<p>Minhyuk jolts and stares at him. </p>
<p>“Do you wanna talk now?” He sounds gentle, avoiding pushing the younger’s buttons. </p>
<p>“No”</p>
<p>“Okay”</p>
<p>They keep walking, one behind the other, taking a glimpse from their surroundings, ignoring people's existence, and only being careful when they cross the street. </p>
<p>“He started to postpone me,” says Daniel. Minhyuk sprints to get closer enough to listen. He doesn’t interrupt, he knows better. </p>
<p>“<em>I can’t, I’ll go with Minhyuk, I can’t Minhyuk this, Minhyuk that '' </em>Daniel tries to imitate someone's voice but fails, Minhyuk feels bittersweet about it ‘cause it’s too familiar. </p>
<p>“Every fucking time I called he would say he was with you, he forgot his anniversary, he left me out for months” it’s still a wound that hasn’t healed maybe because he never told anyone. </p>
<p>“All it was you and you, I tried to get closer, I even dated you when I realized you weren’t a bad guy instead you were great, I thought I would get into your world, of you two, however, nothing changed”</p>
<p>Minhyuk’s face falls, he now gets what Daniel is talking about, he thought maybe it was about a boy he had a crush on, but no, it’s not, it is about Kihyun. </p>
<p>“Then I realized I couldn’t insert myself in your friendship, he was leaving me behind because I am a heavy package, I’m aware, I’m working on that so people don’t leave” they’re quiet for a few minutes before Daniel starts talking again.</p>
<p>“He was on the verge of leaving that night, I almost killed him, Min” </p>
<p>Minhyuk recalls that night, Kihyun fought with Daniel about something, he never told Minhyuk about what, the thing is Kihyun was furious and sad thus he left Daniel’s home, didn’t bid a goodbye, didn’t say anything else, he left. Hours later they got a call from the hospital, Kihyun had an accident, he didn’t realize when a car was coming when he was crossing the road, fortunately, it wasn’t that serious, it took Kihyun some weeks to recover, however, something broke between Daniel and Kihyun, the older knew it was nothing to do with that fight, Daniel wasn’t guilty, it just happened. On the other side, Daniel blamed himself, he refused to visit Kihyun because he thought he deserved to not meet his best friend again, it was his punishment for that night. Their mothers, again, intervene to put them back in place. </p>
<p>“Daniel” Minhyuk calls, he takes his wrist and the boy turns around, his eyes are red as his nose, he is quietly crying while throwing out his emotions. </p>
<p>“It wasn’t your fault, and I’m aware, even if I repeat you that, even if Kihyun does, you won’t believe us, but Daniel all of us made mistakes, that night you made mistakes as Kihyun did but none of them lead Kihyun to that accident, you have to forgive yourself, to let it go because all of us did it, all of us had to, this grunge, this feeling, and emotions are valid, Dan, but you need to feel them and let them go, they are not helping, they’re just pulling you down, you need to forgive yourself” Minhyuk feels his voice raw as if he hasn’t drink anything in hours, his chest is hurting and Daniel’s crumbled face pulls him to attach himself to the younger.</p>
<p>Daniel starts to cry. </p>
<p>That day, in the middle of the street with the night falling, there are no stars nor clouds, the storm is tame for now, yet, it will find its beauty and will enjoy its winds, in dribs and drabs he will realize everyone is a storm once in a while. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I met your friend this weekend” comments Hyunwoo when Hyungwon leaves Daniel with him to talk with the boss. Something about a partnership with Thailand. </p>
<p>“Oh, Kihyun? He told me something like that but we couldn’t talk a lot about it” Daniel seems nervous, more enclosed than other days, Hyunwoo frowns and align his paperwork for the next reunion. </p>
<p>“Do you wanna get some coffee? The cafe in front of here is good” if something Hyunwoo learned in the last weeks with Daniel it’s to not put pressure on him, don’t ask directly, just let him talk if he wants, you just need to give him space. </p>
<p>“Uhm, but Hyungwon, I have to-”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about him, he’s gonna take his sweet time” Hyunwoo stands up putting his ironed navy blue jacket on “he won’t need you for approximately 30 minutes” eyeing at his boss’s door. </p>
<p>Daniel hesitates, he glances between Hyunwoo and the door. </p>
<p>“Okay, not more than 15 minutes”</p>
<p>“Not more than 15 minutes, promise, let’s go then”</p>
<p>Daniel walks behind Hyunwoo, head low and fingers gripping his sleeves, Hyunwoo decides to touch his arm to gesture to the younger to walk beside him.</p>
<p>“I’m not your superior”</p>
<p>“But you’re older”</p>
<p>“We are friends and we’re going for a coffee, also I am giving you permission to walk along with me, please do” Daniel nods at him, he responds with a smile. </p>
<p>“I’ll have a cold brew and for him- What do you want Dan, it’s on me”</p>
<p>“You don’t need to-”</p>
<p>“No, no, I insist, I’m older, respect my decisions”</p>
<p>“Vanilla latte”</p>
<p>“And a vanilla latte, please”</p>
<p>Their orders don’t take more than 6 minutes, in the meanwhile Daniel gets a text from Hyungwon asking him to go back to his office because the reunion will take longer than expected. Hyunwoo knew, his boss told him beforehand to not let anyone in until noon because she was going to discuss the projects with Hyungwon. It is 11:30 AM still. </p>
<p>“We can stay until 11:50, is that okay for you?”</p>
<p>“Don’t you have a packed schedule?”</p>
<p>“No today, Mrs. Kim asked me to rearrange her meetings and some other things I already did, I’m free for now, don’t jinx it” Hyunwoo chuckles and sips his coffee, he watches as Daniel sip his beverage too and places it on the table. </p>
<p>“How was your weekend?” Daniel widens his eyes, he scratches the back of his hand before answering. </p>
<p>“I had a meeting with someone”</p>
<p>“Oh, from work? Like a date or something like that?”</p>
<p>Daniel shakes his head vehemently “God, no, no, nothing like that, I have a girlfriend actually, it was more like a friendly meeting”</p>
<p>“A friend then, well, that’s cool, catching up with people after a busy week” Hyunwoo finds weird Daniel’s word choice, however, he doesn’t comment on it, fearing it could trigger something in Daniel. </p>
<p>“No, I- he is not my friend” </p>
<p>Hyunwoo frowns, he waits, Daniel seems hesitating to keep talking so he doesn’t push him. </p>
<p>“Okay” it’s the only thing he can come up with. </p>
<p>“He was a friend, not anymore”</p>
<p>“You guys fight or something?”</p>
<p>“It was my fault”</p>
<p>“In a relationship or friendship, there is more than one point of view”</p>
<p>“I think both of us have the same one because it is true that I messed up”</p>
<p>“I can’t tell, I don’t know about both of you, but I know assuming things won’t lead you anywhere”</p>
<p>“I’m not assuming, I’m sure about it” the younger is getting heat up, before he can get angry Hyunwoo intercepts him with a gentle smile. </p>
<p>“Daniel, being sure about it is not the same as being what it is, one is from us, the other it’s reality” </p>
<p>Daniel stays quiet, Hyunwoo is being careful, maintaining an even voice. He patiently waits, watching customers come and go, they have time. </p>
<p>After 15 minutes Daniel says something. </p>
<p>“We should go back” Hyunwoo checks his watch, it’s 11:45 AM, he sips his coffee, not rushing to finish yet, they have 5 minutes left anyways. </p>
<p>“It’s difficult to see the sun when it is behind clouds, you’re sure it’s there but can’t see it”</p>
<p>“The sun is bright enough you can see that and if you look at it directly it would hurt your eyes”</p>
<p>Hyunwoo laughs, he rifles Daniel’s hair who scolds him. They stand up and walk back to the office. </p>
<p>“Yeah, and what about it? Some people could say it hurts, other that is warm and bright, everyone has their own opinion about the sun, the real one is made by the sun itself”</p>
<p>“That’s a shitty allegory” Daniel chuckles, </p>
<p>“Yeah but it made you smile”</p>
<p>Hyunwoo smiles and Daniel smiles back, when they arrive at the office they find a stressed Hyungwon on the verge of pulling his hair out. </p>
<p>“Gotta go” Daniel mumbles. </p>
<p>“Good luck,” says Hyunwoo but Daniel it’s already walking towards Hyungwon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Dear Hyunwoo</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh, it feels good calling you by your name finally and not by “H”, how are you? I keep looking for clues around here, I didn’t limit myself to asking my neighbors, I’m searching in my apartment too, the other day I saw this movie when they hid things inside the walls or behind the fridge and said to myself “maybe the person before me did that”. Spoiler, I haven’t found anything, no worries, I keep trying. And do you know there are like thousands of Hoseoks? I believe I found your friend too, the disappointing part is that none of them have an address, I mean, I do the same but men, I need you to put it now, it would help. That’s all for today? Yeah, tell me when you get this, please! Talk to you soon or text you, whatever. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kihyun. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I got your letter… I thought you wouldn't send one when you messaged me" Kihyun chuckles, the interference from the video call is not making it less beautiful for Hyunwoo. </p>
<p>"I like sending letters, I mean, the concept of them, old-fashioned in a good way" </p>
<p>"It is" </p>
<p>"Did you find something new?" </p>
<p>Hyunwoo sighs and shakes his head, Kihyun has his index finger on his lips tapping it gently. </p>
<p>"You know, you should ask your friend…" </p>
<p>"Who?" </p>
<p>"The one who drove you home" </p>
<p>"Hoseokkie?" </p>
<p>Kihyun grimaces at the pet name nonetheless he nods, Hyunwoo doesn't realize his friend's change in demeanor. </p>
<p>"Yeah, that one, his mom lives here apparently, you could try asking Hoseok, also there was a Hoseok living here before me, maybe it's him" he suggests, watching Hyunwoo going through his own process of thinking, Kihyun really wants to ignore the pet-name Hyunwoo gave to his friend, he has to admit the buff guy is gorgeous and anyone could fall in love with him, however, it bothers Kihyun the possibility of Hyunwoo dating someone, heck, he doesn't know if he's dating someone. </p>
<p>"I'm not" </p>
<p>"Uhm?" </p>
<p>"I'm not dating anyone. You said it out loud" </p>
<p>Red ears and dust pink on his cheeks, Kihyun curses himself. </p>
<p>"I'm sorry, fuck, I–" </p>
<p>"It's okay I think we need to know each other better if we're gonna keep working on this? Having a partner right now could be helpful or not, so I understand why you asked" </p>
<p>"Yeah, right" </p>
<p>"What about you?" </p>
<p>"What about me?" Kihyun is confused for a second. </p>
<p>"Are you in a relationship?" if Hyunwoo was in a better light Kihyun could see his ears turning red while asking. </p>
<p>"No, I had a break up a few months ago so I'm okay being single" </p>
<p>"Oh, I'm sorry" Hyunwoo seems apologetic, immediately Kihyun shakes his head furiously. </p>
<p>"No, no, no worries, I got over it, he was a jerk anyway" he chuckles, even with Hyunwoo smiling he can see the older is regretting asking back. </p>
<p>"How I was saying, you should ask Hoseok about the building, maybe he was a tenant too, maybe he knows about this, whatever he knows it could help us" </p>
<p>"I will ask him then. Kihyun?" </p>
<p>"Yes?" </p>
<p>"Would you like to go out with me? I mean, for this, again, for check this, for yeah, we could bring what we gather or I don't know, what I could get from Hoseok, plan something else, better, cause, I'm, I think we need to do more or–" Hyunwoo looks endearing rambling, his eyes going down and forward and his fingers playing with his hair. </p>
<p>"Hyunwoo" Kihyun calls, Hyunwoo looks up and he finds the younger smiling at him. </p>
<p>"We’ll meet even if it's not for this exactly" </p>
<p>"Yeah?"</p>
<p>"Yes, you are a good company" </p>
<p>"You too, then what about Sunday?" </p>
<p>"Eager, are we? Sounds good to me, 2 PM is okay? I want to eat out, later we can do something else, talk about this and whatsoever" </p>
<p>"Do you wanna come to my apartment? </p>
<p>Kihyun arcs an eyebrow but explodes in laughter when he sees Hyunwoo blushing. </p>
<p>" I didn't mean it like that-"</p>
<p>"It's my turn this time to visit the place I sent a letter for weeks" </p>
<p>"It's just 20 minutes from where you live" </p>
<p>"Great, can you send me your location? I'm lazy to type it on my phone" </p>
<p>“Of course, just let me-” Hyunwoo exits the video call, he can only hear Kihyun breathing and his show playing in the background, he goes to their conversation and sends his location. </p>
<p>“Done,” says when Kihyun’s phone dings. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I heard it”</p>
<p>They kept talking for the rest of the afternoon and night, Kihyun telling Hyunwoo about his class, his kids's pranks, and cute moments they have, Hyunwoo told him about Hyungwon fighting someone for a jelly bean package because he was stress and need to eat sweets, he avoids Daniel’s topic on purpose even when Kihyun asked him about it he only told him about Daniel being more open to him, he thinks it is not his place to talk about him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I guy asked for you”</p>
<p>“For me?” He stands up to walk to the window and watches some people passing by, he can see a few new green leaves in the tree near his apartment. </p>
<p>“What did he ask?” he watches every detail outside, he usually loves to memorize his surroundings. </p>
<p>“He is a new tenant living in your apartment, he told me he wanted to know who was before him because he got some weird letters, I didn’t say anything as you asked me,” says the woman, she sighs. </p>
<p>A click then a chuckle from him. </p>
<p>“It’s time apparently”</p>
<p>“For what?”</p>
<p>“A new season is beginning”</p>
<p>“You’re not talking about spring, right?”</p>
<p>“No, not necessarily” </p>
<p>A tall man is walking by, looking around, he seems lost, the man from the window observes him, he knows he is searching for him but he’ll make him wait for a little before going down. </p>
<p>“I’ll talk to you later”</p>
<p>“See you soon, take care”</p>
<p>“Yes, mom, see you”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'M BACK WITH THIS STORY!!! YEIY! I'm sorry if it's a little bit messy, I just got the idea and went with the flow, tell me what you thought about this chapter! What do you expect? Whatever you wanna share.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Between lies and truths</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What about Lee Hoseok?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hyunwoo is looking around the area, observing every corner, person, and thing, he wanders in the park while the kids are running with his parents behind them, other people are jogging. It’s not as cold as other days, a sign of spring coming in a few days. This time he just wears a white t-shirt with a black jacket, blue jeans, and a cap, he told Hoseok how he dressed so if he gets lost it would be easy to find him but here he is strolling, looking intimidating to some people because no one recognizes him. </p><p>“Damn it, Jooheon” he curses, his friend was supposed to go with him to Hoseok’s apartment and from there they would move to a restaurant, but no, Jooheon was stuck at his studio and he will arrive later. </p><p>Hyunwoo takes his phone out, ready to call Hoseok and ask him for help, if he keeps walking he’s gonna end up in another block and it would be a disaster, also he is already late for 5 minutes, he hates that even if is just 1 minute, that’s why he was stressed the first time he was going to meet Kihyun but the traffic said otherwise. </p><p>“Hyunwoo!” someone yells, Hyunwoo looks up to find Hoseok waving his hand from a window, he breaths again calmly, he waves back. </p><p>“Hey! I’m coming!” he jogs to Hoseok’s building. </p><p>The younger is laughing when he arrives, he was having fun watching Hyunwoo looking around, searching for him, pouting every time he didn’t know where to go. </p><p>“Stop laughing at me, Seok, it wasn’t enjoyable” Hyunwoo scratches his nape. </p><p>Hoseok chuckles and folds his arms “maybe not for you, but for me was priceless, you have seen your face” he smiles. </p><p>Hyunwoo smiles and punches him slightly. </p><p>“Shut up”</p><p>“You looked cute”</p><p>“Oh my god, are you flirting with me?” </p><p>“Your friend is gonna fight me if I do that” </p><p>“Who?” the older tilts his head, oblivious about that suggestion. </p><p>“If you don’t know then I won’t say”</p><p>“Seok! Is Honey?”</p><p>Hoseok changes his face to a stern one. </p><p>“Shut up”</p><p>“You started the teasing and now you can’t stand it” Hyunwoo shakes his head and clicks his tongue “Don’t get sulky, Seok” </p><p>“I’m not sulky,” Hoseok says pouting, his eyebrows furrowing and his arms seem more intimidating now that they’re folded on his chest. </p><p>“Hoseok” Hyunwoo calls him, he places his hands on his friend’s shoulders and hunts his gaze. </p><p>“Honey doesn’t like me, I don’t like Honey”</p><p>“What if?”</p><p>“Definitely no, negative, never, he’s a great guy, my best friend but no more”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“Hoseok, I said what I said, we’re friends, that’s all”</p><p>“Sorry” Hoseoks shakes his head, he downs his arms and fidgets with his fingers, Hyunwoo puts a finger on his chin to lift his head. </p><p>“It’s okay, both of you are settling things, it’s fine, go on your own pace, got it?” it’s unusual to see this Hoseok at least for Hyunwoo, he always finds this man being cool and centered but now he is being soft and vulnerable, something that endears him. </p><p>Jooheon didn’t have to tell Hyunwoo about that special relationship with Hoseok, he caught it when they were having dinner a few weeks ago, some stolen glances, smiles, their eyes sparkled every time the other talked and for everyone it could be a deep friendship, not for Hyunwoo, those gestures weren’t for friends, something was there even of none of them say it out loud and today he proved it. </p><p>“Let’s head to the restaurant, shall we?” </p><p>Hoseok blinks and nods his head, Hyunwoo takes his hand then walks to the younger car. </p><p>“I’m sorry” Hoseok murmurs, Hyunwoo is the one driving them, he smiles and turns right.</p><p>“It’s okay, you are on thin ice with your relationship”</p><p>“That’s the thing there is no such thing as a relationship” Hoseok sounds stressed, he snorts and lets his head fall to the seat.</p><p>Hyunwoo hums and steals a glance from Hoseok. </p><p>“I don’t agree with you, there is something, you both are building it up”</p><p>“I’m not even ready for a relationship, I don’t know why we are discussing this, you and Joo can be together” they stop when the light turns red, Hyunwoo looks at his friend and arcs an eyebrow.</p><p>“Sure?” he is teasing Hoseok, the latter hesitated before looking at Hyunwoo.</p><p>“Okay, no, no, I take it back” Hoseok shakes his head furiously and Hyunwoo chuckles. </p><p>“You know, he would tell me about you I don’t understand why you two are being difficult with this” </p><p>The younger sighs, he sinks further in his seat. </p><p>“It’s not that” </p><p>Hyunwoo waits, seems like this week is to give everyone advice. </p><p>His friend starts talking fast and unsure of his words. </p><p>“It’s… I told him I had bad experiences with love, with dating and stuff, I suck at it, I think he got it personal and draw a line between us, I hate it because I wanna try, well, part of me want, the other tells me to dare to break my heart again, to risk again what I built, I spent years getting better, I’m scared, he is just a friend, I know he is a good guy but I’m a mess” he is playing with the seams of his shirt. </p><p>Hyunwoo sighs and turns left, he can see the restaurant at the end of the street. Hyunwoo parks then watch Hoseok biting his lips, Jooheon told him Hoseok does that when he is trying to stop himself from crying. </p><p>“Look I don’t have any right in your life nor Jooheon’s, you decide what to do or don’t, I will say this once and you can do whatever you want with that. Jooheon likes you, you like him” he rearranges his cap and stares at the front. </p><p>“Things will pass you and your fear of being hurt, of trying new things, of leaving your comfort zone will prevent you from enjoying those things, yes, maybe you’ll cry, maybe it’s painful but is it not the same as this anxiety zone you’re living in?” Hoseok peers at him not daring to down his guard. </p><p>“Think about it, for now, let’s occupy a table and order at least a bread basket ‘coz I’m hungry, Jooheon will be here in 20 minutes or so, let’s go” let them be, that’s what he does, he doesn’t like put pressure on people, he’s been there and he hated to feel people are expecting something from him a response, a reply, whatever it is, he likes to have his space and he gives the same to others. </p><p>“Nunu” Hoseok calls, he has never called him that, he is okay with that. </p><p>“Yeah?” Hyunwoo is checking his wallet, making sure his credit card is in there.</p><p>“Thank you” the younger mutters, Hyunwoo smiles, he ruffles Hoseok’s hair. </p><p>“You’re welcome, but for real, Seokkie, let’s get bread I get sulky if I’m hungry” </p><p>Joooheon arrives 15 minutes later, Hyunwoo scolds him for being late even when he’s not, the younger let it go ‘cause he knows Hyunwoo is just hungry. The older of them thanks the atmosphere is peaceful and not awkward. </p><p>“Thus, what did Hoseok said about the letters, Woo?” Jooheon speaks, he peers at both his friends expectantly for some news. </p><p>“Oh, I forgot to ask” </p><p>Hoseok widens his eyes, a pouty face provoked by the pasta in his mouth, he swallows and cleans himself with a napkin. </p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“I got a letter a few weeks ago about someone” Hyunwoo starts explaining.</p><p>“K” Jooheon adds. </p><p>“Yeah, thanks, signing by ‘K’ I don’t know who it is but I’m sure if for the guy before me, the person said for ‘H’ but I moved months after the family that used to live there” </p><p>“And how that connects to me?” </p><p>“K’s letter is from you where your mom’s living and we want to know if you heard something or know about it? Anything could help us at this point” says Hyunwoo with an airy tone, Jooheon smiles but it falls when Hoseok sneers. </p><p>“I don’t think I can be of much help, I didn’t live with her when she moved” he admits, his fingers touching the fork and retracting them when Hyunwoo speaks again. </p><p>“Oh, okay, but hm, nothing? Maybe your mom told you about someone there?” at this point, Hyunwoo is growing impatient with the dead road they’re facing. </p><p>“I don’t think so?” Hoseok hesitates. </p><p>“A Lee Hoseok used to be there, are you sure your mom didn’t tell you about him?” Jooheon intercedes, something is not seating right with him, his hands go to support his chin waiting for Hoseok’s answer. </p><p>Hoseok blinks slowly and tilts his head “no, that’s a funny thing, but she didn’t say a word” he goes back to his meal.</p><p>Hyunwoo lets his body fall to his back seat and inhales deeply, he massages his temple.</p><p>On the other side, Jooheon can’t stop observing Hoseok, how the older is being quiet, not his usual curious self, and maybe Hoseok senses the younger uneasiness because he talks again. </p><p>“But I can ask her later and help you around asking the neighbors”</p><p>“Kihyun did that” confesses Hyunwoo.</p><p>“The other night I was thinking I met a Kihyun in high school, wouldn’t be funny if he was the same one?” Hoseok shares a playful smile that deflates when Jooheon talks. </p><p>“He lives at this Lee Hoseok’s apartment” </p><p>The cutlery’s sound stops on their table, Jooheon is googled-eyed watching Hoseok dropping his fork abruptly.</p><p>“Yeah, however, if you can ask around too that could help us, Seokkie” the younger tries to diverge the attention to another topic, he needs to talk about this discover with Hyunwoo alone. </p><p>“Anyways, are you going to work with that choreographer you told me the other day?”</p><p>They spend their night drinking more and talking, 2 hours later Hoseok is dropping Jooheon and Hyunwoo at their block. </p><p>After biding their goodbyes Jooheon takes Hyunwoo’s hand and drags his friend to his apartment. </p><p>“Honey, what’s happening? Did you order something you want to show me? Can it be for tomorrow I’m tired?”</p><p>“Don’t play that card when you woke me up at 3 AM, asshole”</p><p>“I said I’m sorry”</p><p>“A sorry won’t bring me my sleep hours”</p><p>They enter Hyunwoo’s apartment and Jooheon throws his friend to his couch.</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“Hoseok is hiding something”</p><p> </p><p>“I hate my job” Hyungwon declares, it’s 8 AM on Monday, Hyunwoo looks at him then back to his computer. </p><p>Hyungwon arches his eyebrows and clicks his tongue, his now long black hair falling in waves when he peeks at Hyunwoo’s desk. </p><p>“Won!” Hyunwoo scowls. </p><p>Hyungwon grins and whistles when he sees Kihyun’s messages  “I didn’t know you were going out with my boyfriend’s friend! Why you didn’t tell me?” he pouts. </p><p>Hyunwoo exhales “none of your business, also not your boyfriend should tell him?”</p><p>“Nope, we don’t talk about the gremlin” Hyungwon sips from Hyunwoo’s coffee who just glares at him. </p><p>“Why?” the older knows they’re not on good terms but he wanted to try and gather information from Hyungwon. </p><p>“Dunno, that’s not the case, how you two met?” the taller lean on Hyunwoo’s desk, his skinny frame covering everyone’s curious eyes. </p><p>“I received a letter from his apartment so I sent one back, it resulted in it wasn’t from him but someone else,” he tells. </p><p>“Who?” Hyungwoon is intrigued by it. </p><p>“We don’t know yet, that’s what we’re looking for”</p><p>“Oh, if you need help you can ask me or Daniel, he is good with computers and stuff, he can help you to look for someone” </p><p>Hyunwoo gifts him a smile and pats his arm. </p><p>“Mr. Chae to my office” Mrs. Kim walking past them. </p><p>“Fucking wanna unalive me”</p><p>Hyunwoo chuckles watching Hyungwon taking his folders and notes to follow Mrs. Kim.</p><p>“Good luck” </p><p>Hyungwon waves his hand. </p><p>Daniel gets there 5 minutes later looking for Hyungwon, this time he doesn’t look worn out, he seems lively. </p><p>“Hey, there, kiddo” </p><p>“Don’t call me kiddo” Daniels whines, Hyunwoo opens his hands in surrender and sips his coffee. </p><p>“Where is Wonnie?”</p><p>“Boss’s office”</p><p>Daniel grunts. </p><p>“What is it?” Hyunwoo asks standing up, he needs to take some files to the advertising area. </p><p>“He asked me for this by 8:15 AM”</p><p>“Well, you can wait here, I’ll be back in 5”</p><p>“No, no, Hyunwoo, you don’t understand, he made me prepare this on my weekend, without fewer hours to sleep for him to not being worried by this?” he is frustrated, okay, maybe he enjoyed more time with his girlfriend because she helped him his work and maybe his mom sent them desserts, maybe it wasn’t that bad, that doesn’t make up for working on the weekend. </p><p>“Give me that, please” Hyunwoo takes the folder and skims over the pages. He laughs. Hyungwon is evil. </p><p>“Don’t regret anything except working for Won” Hyunwoo admits, Daniel widens his eyes innocently. </p><p>“This is due next week, Dan, you had enough time” </p><p>Daniel gapes, his left eye twitching. </p><p>“He- He is-”</p><p>“Your boss, thank you, Daniel, for your kind work, I will need it for my trip” Hyungwon speaks making Daniel jump and his heart rate increase. </p><p>“Trip?” Hyunwoo asks, the three of them take the elevator selecting different floors. </p><p>“Yeah, Thailand, a new share project with them, I will unalive myself, that’s it, I’m done” </p><p>“Will I go?” the younger questions timidly, Hyungwon thinking he is endearing nonetheless they’re at work, he needs to be serious. </p><p>“Nope, my dear, you’ll stay, I need you to take care of the fort and send me whatever it will be necessary”</p><p>“Will I be in charge?” Hyungwon guffaws along with Hyunwoo.</p><p>“Of course not, I’ll let someone supervise you” </p><p>The elevator opens and it’s time for Hyunwoo to get down. </p><p>“When do you leave?” </p><p>“Tomorrow”</p><p>“Tough decision”</p><p>“She hates me”</p><p>The rest of the day runs smoothly, for everyone except Hyunwoo, Hyungwon, and Daniel. The trip to Thailand is making Hyunwoo run from top to bottom and left to right, sending files, receiving them, organize stuff, make calls and do everything perfectly for his boss, she’s not leaving with Hyungwon but she needs everything ready for him to leave. </p><p>He exits the building until 8 PM, extra hours that at least will be paid, he wants to call Kihyun. They met on Sunday, but it was just for the sake of their blossoming friendship, they didn’t talk about the letters, nothing about it, Hyunwoo doesn’t complain but he needed to tell Kihyun what Jooheon told him and maybe just misses him already. </p><p>After three tones Kihyun picks up.</p><p>“Hello?” his voice is groggy, Hyunwoo is convinced Kihyun woke up with his call, he is regretting it. </p><p>“Oh, sorry, Kihyun, I thought you were awake, I’m sorry, I’ll call you later,” he says apologetically. </p><p>“No, no, Hyunwoo, what is it? Something happened?” Kihyun is trying to collect his thoughts and get rid of his post-sleeping mush mind. </p><p>“It can’t wait, I’ll hang up, sleep well” </p><p>“Hyunwoo!” Kihyun yells, Hyunwoo stops immediately. </p><p>“I said, it’s okay, I needed to wake up anyways, I was planning some activities for my kids, you did me a favor, thank you” his voice is still hoarse, for Hyunwoo is adorable.</p><p>“Okay… it’s just about the letters, we didn’t talk about them yesterday… so yeah”</p><p>Kihyun was more interested in asking Hyunwoo about his college days, his last job as an economic analyzer, how he ended up in Seoul, and Hyunwoo was the same, asking more and more about the younger, they were more into knowing each other. It was a good day from the lunch at a casual restaurant, then a stroll around a local market and the park, after it, they went to a night food stands and talk until it was 9 PM, both reluctant to leave, however, they have work and have to wake up early. Hyunwoo still wanted to kiss Kihyun’s cheeks but he stopped himself, it was not the time yet. </p><p>“Sure, tell me” </p><p>“Jooheon, my friend, remember?”</p><p>“Honey is it?” Hyunwoo and his ways to call his friends with pet names. </p><p>“That one, he met Hoseok before me and he knows him more, the three of us had dinner on Saturday and I asked about the letters, I thought he was not interested in them, turns out Honey thinks he is lying”</p><p>“About what, exactly?”</p><p>“That he is not that Lee Hoseok”</p><p>Kihyun hums, unconsciously he plays with his fingers on his lips thinking about what Hyunwoo just told him. </p><p>“Why he would deny it?”</p><p>“That’s the question”</p><p>The younger sighs “Hyunwoo” he calls. </p><p>Hyunwoo makes a sound to indicate him to continue and he does. </p><p>“I think we should leave it here”</p><p>Hyunwoo furrows his brows “what? why?”</p><p>“If this is your friend or at least knows something, if he looks reluctant, to be honest, perhaps he doesn’t want to go back to this, you told me he is back from London, maybe he wants to forget about this and we are bringing this back from the ashes, it doesn’t sit right with me to bring stuff someone is trying to buried or forget” Kihyun pursed his lips, accepting this would mean not having an excuse to meet with Hyunwoo but he has to speak about this. </p><p>“You are right actually… I thought we were helping, doesn’t seem like that at the moment” he confesses, after what Jooheon told him Hyunwoo thought about it, getting this piece of information was enough to make him reconsider everything. </p><p>“Precisely, maybe we should leave it”</p><p>“Yeah…”</p><p>“Well, before we leave this, Hoseok looked familiar the first time I saw him, I don’t know why” Kihyun chuckles.</p><p>“Talking about that, he told us he studied with a Kihyun too”</p><p>“A Yoo Kihyun?”</p><p>“Whoops, didn’t ask” </p><p>Kihyun frowns, he has an idea. </p><p>“Do you know where?”</p><p>“High School? Maybe Honey knows”</p><p>“Can you ask him?”</p><p>“Yeah”</p><p>“Now”</p><p>“Right, right, going” Hyunwoo exits the call and messages Jooheon asking him about Hoseok’s high school, his friend doesn’t take long to reply. </p><p>“He says it was Seoul High School” Hyuwoo talks again. </p><p>“I studied there”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HEY THERE! I'M BACK, okay I'm sleepy, hope you enjoy this!! We know about Hoseok... and some things maybe you didn't expect!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OKAY! This is my first work here and with this ship and fandom, I hope I don't abandon this because I really love the idea I came up with. Hope you enjoy the first chapter! I would love some kudos and comments if you want. And what do you think is going to happen in the story?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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